Berry shattered the school record in the men's 10,000 meter run clocking a time of 29:17.72 at the Stanford Invitational, earning him an automatic bid to the region meet held in Jacksonville, Fla., in late May. He was seeded 12th in the meet but just missed the cut for the NCAA National Championships finishing 17th overall.
The Mocs started the season at the USF Bulls Invitational in Tampa, Fla. Junior Lucas Cotter (Collierville, Tenn.) and senior Emmanuel Kirwa (Kapsabet, Kenya) each claimed titles at the season opener. Cotter won the men's 1500 meter run with a personal record time of 3:51.92.
Kirwa won the men's 3000 meter title to start his final season at Chattanooga. He edged out host school's Philip wise with a time of 8:35.79. Berry was second in the 5000 meter, posting a Top 10 South Region time in the event at 14:34.86.
Freshman Dezerick Frazier (Goodletsville, Tenn.) made his debut in the outdoor season with a strong finish in the 400 meter dash while Amanda Sumner (Bristol, Conn.) returned to the track in the 1500 meter run by winning her heat.
The Mocs moved on to the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by Georgia Tech for their next meet and posted seven Top 10 finishes. Nathan Wanuch (Mississauga, Ontario)led UTC with the men's 3000 meter Steeplechase title with a time of 9:30.32, finishing more than six seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Teammate Mark Cole (Eads, Tenn.) came in sixth in the race.
Junior Joshue Vasquez (Johnson City, Tenn.) posted a personal record time in the 800 meter run while classmate Blake Olson (Pleasant View, Tenn.) just missed his by 0.07 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles. Also cruising into the Top 10 was Sumner who finished sixth in a competitive 1500 meter run. Frazier posted a near-school-record time in the 400m dash with a time of 48.94, just .59 seconds off UTC's top pace.
Only a few runners made the trip to the prestigious Stanford Invitational. Berry led the group with a school record run in the 10,000m that earned him a spot in the NCAA East Region meet. Cotter was injured in the meet finishing a top three region time in the 5000m with an injured foot that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Sumner, also nursing an injured foot, was unable to finish the women's 5000m despite leading nearly 3000 meters of the race.
The following week, the team traveled a short distance to Nashville for the Boston Moon Classic hosted by Tennessee State where Vasquez starred for the Mocs. The junior middle distance runner claimed the 800m title and then went on to help the 4x400m relay team to the top time.
Vasquez edged out his nearest competitor by a tenth of a second in the 800m then anchored the 4x400m team (Frazier, Olson, freshman Drew Harris) just missing the school record time by less than two seconds.
Frazier continued his improvement over his rookie season with a second place finish in the 400 meter. Freshman Samantha Pulido was second in the women's 400 meter hurdles posting a PR time of 1:07.68. Classmate Taylor Pannell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was second in the women's High Jump.
Four Mocs claimed all-conference honors at the Southern Conference Championships held in Cullowhee, N.C. The women finished 10th with scoring from Sumner, and the 4x100m and 4x400 meter relay teams. The men were sixth with scoring from eight different placers with 37 points.
Sumner was named all-conference with her third place finish in the women's 1500 meter run. She was joined by Berry who placed second in the 5000 meter. Kirwa just missed all-conference in the 5000m with a fourth place finish but was second in the 10,000 meter as he closed out his career with the Mocs. Cole placed just behind Kirwa in the longer distance event earning all-conference in the 10,000m.
Three Chattanooga athletes were named to the league's all-freshman team. Frazier finished eighth in the 400m dash finals as one of the top freshmen in the event. Freshman Patrick O'Brien was the second freshman across the line in the 1500m run to make the team while Pannell earned the honor in the women's high jump.
