UTC Mocs primed to host SoCon cross country meet

The last two months have been a whirlwind for Andy Meyer and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country teams.

The former Dalton State coach was hired on Sept. 7 to replace the retired Bill Gautier, and immediately he had to help put together the PowerAde Invitational meet at Moccasin Bend. With three weeks between that meet and the next one on Oct. 1, Meyer had time to get acclimated to the program he once ran for, and he has the Mocs prepared to run this Saturday in the Southern Conference meet at 10 a.m. at Camp Jordan Park.

“The teams have progressed very well,” Meyer said Tuesday. “They had a rough start of it, but the kids have responded well, worked really hard and got gradually better during workouts. They’ve thrown down some really good times, and at each race they’ve started to understand positioning, where they need to be and how they need to pace, so I’m really excited for the kids coming in. “I’m looking forward to it.” UTC has some familiarity with the Camp Jordan venue, having raced there on Oct. 15 in the Front Runner Invitational. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed second, with Paul Stuart and Maddison Melchionna leading the way for their respective teams.

Stuart was the SoCon men’s runner of the week after having placed third in the PowerAde Invitational.

Sixth soccer seed

The UTC soccer team wound up tied for fifth and will be the sixth seed heading into the SoCon women’s tournament.

The Mocs, who travel to Mercer for a quarterfinal match Saturday at 4, finished 6-10-2 (4-4-1 in the league) during the regular season, with seven losses by one goal. In addition, the four teams that beat the Mocs in conference play are on the other side of the bracket, so coach Gavin McKinney feels good about both the draw and his team’s chances.

UTC edged Mercer 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 2 in Chattanooga.

“This will be a good chance for us to perform well and hopefully make a late run to end our season off,” McKinney said. “We didn’t end the regular season well, but all in all we think we took a step forward from last year and we still have a lot to play for, so we’re excited to see where we can go in the tournament.”

Golfers place sixth

The UTC women’s golf team had a rough final day in the Palmetto Intercollegiate tournament at Turtle Point Golf Course in Kiawah Island, S.C. The Mocs shot a final-round 305 and ended up sixth out of 20 teams at 896.

Maria Pineiro had the team’s lowest round Tuesday, shooting a 75 and finishing the three-day event with a 225. Monica San Juan had the Mocs’ low total, an eighth-place 220, while Holly Morgan tied for 19th at 224. Cristina Perez shot 228.

Campbell was the team winner at 879.

Volleyball hits road

The volleyball Mocs play Friday at Furman in the first of four consecutive road matches that could help shape their season heading into the SoCon tournament.

The Mocs (13-10, 6-4) are in a tie for third with Samford but are two games behind East Tennessee State and a game and a half behind UNC Greensboro. The Mocs split with ETSU and dropped a road match against UNCG but host the Spartans on Nov. 12.

UTC plays Saturday at The Citadel and hits the road again the following weekend with matches at Wofford and Western Carolina.