DEMOREST — Members of the 2015 Piedmont College men's cross country team were on hand during halftime of Wednesday's men's basketball game against Covenant College to receive their championship rings after having claimed last season's USA South title.
Seven Lions played a part in last season's championship team, each taking part in the championship ring ceremony along with assistant coach Ian Layne and head coach Jeff Jenkins, the 2015 men's cross country coach of the year.
The men of Piedmont left no doubt as they topped the defending champions, Covenant College, by a 12-point margin at the championship meet on October 31. The first four runners across the line for the Lions were freshman Clayton Thayer, junior Cody Parker, freshman Jarrod Howell and freshman Dewayne Cagle respectively.
These four men finished with only seven seconds separating the group and took four of the seven First Team All-Conference honors by going 3, 4, 5, 6. Junior veteran Cory McClung came through for the Lions' all-important final scorer with a 16th place finish.
The Piedmont men dominated the USA South scene this past fall going 11-1 against USA South competition with their only loss coming at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championship. During the regular season, the Piedmont men had individuals named USA South Runner of the Week and USA South Rookie of the Week a combined total of eight times.
These men broke the program record for the fastest 8k team average with a mark of 28:41 at the USA South Championship meet. Also adding their names to the record books, freshmen Thayer and Howell ran two of the top 3 fastest times of all freshmen in program history at the USA South Championship meet.
The championship marked the first USA South Men's Championship for Piedmont College since joining the league in 2012 and the first men's cross country title since they won the GSAC crown in the fall of 2009.
