Tony Parrilla Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a week off for rest and preparation, the Carson-Newman cross country teams, the Eagles are set to spread their wings and head to the Southeast Regional Championship in Montavello, Ala.

The men will be prepped to run a 10-kilometer race, while the women will run 6.5 kilometers.

"What we are going to get out of this is the end of the first chapter of really having more of the people I was able to bring in and the attitude I was able to bring in," coach Tony Parrilla said. "It's going to be an end of a chapter and we are really ready to let the dust settle, get a game plan and formulate that game plan and execute and just get better."

Two weeks ago at the South Atlantic Conference Championships in Salisbury, N.C., the Eagles placed ninth.

Freshmen Lachlan Dickie (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Luke Greer (Abington, United Kingdom) led the men's team. Dickie placed 18^th and Greer finished in 29^th-place. Sophomore Sara Honaker (Mason, Ohio) spearheaded the women's four-person attack finishing in 31^st. Freshman Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) placed five spots behind Honaker in 36^th. Juniors Hannah Kiser (Cedar Park, Texas) and Aiyana Martino (Kalispell, Mont.) finished right beside each other in 60^th and 61^st-place respectively.

"We didn't have the results I hoped for (at the SAC Championships). But, I'm a glass half full type guy. I see from the guy's perspective, between four and ninth-place, there were 50 points and I know where we can make those up," Parrilla said of the team's perforamce. "Just having a brighter future with the girls' team as well as the guys' team, I see a very good place to start to get going."  

Ten other South Atlantic Conference teams will make the trek south to the Yellowhammer State. Newberry will be the only SAC team not running Saturday morning.

In the men's race, 18-time SAC champion Mars Hill highlights the league's contingent.  The Lions are ranked second in the Southeast Region. Fourth-ranked Queens and No. 10 Wingate are the other two ranked teams in the SAC.

For the women, conference champions and reigning regional champion Wingate leads the SAC pack. The Bulldogs are ranked second in the region this season. Queens is sixth in the region, Anderson is placed eighth and Lenior-Rhyne rounds out the rankings in 10^th.

Brevard, Catawba, Coker, Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum round out the teams from the SAC. 

Full coverage of the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships will be available on cneagles.com. 

-CN-