West Virginia daily

• Three former runners for Mount Tabor - Amy DiBianca ('03), Carly Matthews ('02) and Ginger Wheeler ('01) - had strong performances in NCAA cross-country regionals last weekend, and two helped their teams win championships.

DiBianca, a junior, finished second in the Division III South/Southeast Regional in Conway, Ark., covering a 6-kilometer course in 22:18.9 and leading Emory to its 14th title in 15 seasons. Emory put its five scoring runners in the top 10 and, with the victory, qualified automatically for Saturday's NCAA Division III championships in Delaware, Ohio.

In the Division I South Regional in Gainesville, Fla., Matthews had one of the best races of her college career, finishing 15th in 21:30.55 to help Tennessee to its fourth consecutive title.

Matthews, a senior, was the No. 4 runner for the Lady Vols and figured into the team scoring and made the all-region team for the first time. She improved on previous regional finishes of 32nd and 35th, and Tennessee qualified automatically for Monday's Division I championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

In the Division I Southeast Regional in Greenville, Wheeler placed 24th in 21:09.4 and helped N.C. State to a second-place finish behind top-ranked Duke. State, with its second-place finish, secured its 11th straight NCAA berth.

• In other Division I cross country Saturday, Josh Sink (North Davidson '02) led Navy with a 31st-place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bethlehem, Pa., and North Carolina's Cassie King (East Forsyth '02) and Appalachian State's Kasey Smith (South Stokes '03) had top-40 finishes in Greenville.

Sink, running his final college cross-country race, covered a 10-K course at Lehigh in 31:17. He ended the season as Navy's top finisher in all seven races he ran.

At Greenville, King finished 32nd (21:19.3), and Smith was 39th (21:31.8) in a women's field of 205. North Carolina also will run in the national championships Monday after being awarded an at-large berth.

• Greg Reece (West Forsyth '02) won the defensive-player-of-the-year award in Conference USA last week, then helped South Carolina win the C-USA men's soccer title Sunday.

Reece, a two-year team captain and three-year starter, anchored a defense that allowed just nine goals in C-USA matches during the regular season. In the C-USA Tournament, the Gamecocks held two opponents scoreless and allowed just one goal, in a 2-1 semifinal win over Memphis.

Reece also assisted on the only goal in the final, setting up Mike Sambursky late in the first half, as South Carolina defeated Tulsa 1-0 for the title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The assist was the first this season for Reece, who will return to Forsyth County on Friday night for South Carolina's NCAA Tournament opener at Wake Forest.

• UNC Greensboro's Jay Benfield (West Forsyth '01) made the first team, and Elon's Brett Paschall (NW Guilford '04) was a second-team selection in voting for All-Southern Conference men's soccer honors.

Benfield leads the SoCon in goals-against average (0.71), save percentage (.839) and shutouts (8) and is second in saves (73 in 20 games, 3.65 a game). His save percentage also ranks No. 6 in the nation.

In Sunday's SoCon final, Benfield allowed a goal but didn't have to make a save as UNCG edged Davidson 2-1 to grab an automatic NCAA berth. In three tournament matches, he had six saves and a hand in two shutouts.

Paschall is among the SoCon leaders in game-winning goals (tied for 4th with three), assists (tied for sixth with five), points per game (tied for 7th with 1.00), points (tied for 9th with 19) and goals (tied for 9th with seven).

• Linebacker Anthony Robinson (West Forsyth '01) made a successful transition from Winston-Salem State to Carson-Newman and highlighted his senior season by winning the South Atlantic Conference's defensive-player-of-the-year award.

Robinson - the leading tackler in each of his three seasons at WSSU - finished with 75 tackles, including 40 solos, and three sacks for a Carson-Newman defense that was No. 2 in the SAC overall and against the run. He had seven tackles for 23 yards in losses, forced two fumbles and recovered one.

Also in All-SAC voting, Matt Winters (Statesville '02) was the second-team tight end. He had one catch for 6 yards but was primarily a blocking tight end.

• Kicker Josh Hoke (West Iredell '02) tied a Big South record by making 9 of 9 extra-point kicks Saturday in Coastal Carolina's 71-8 rout of Mansfield State.

Mansfield scored first and converted the two-point try, but Coastal matched the points. The Chanticleers then scored nine straight touchdowns, with Hoke kicking the extra point after each. Hoke, who limited Mansfield to an average of 8.8 yards a kick return, is now 35 for 35 on extra-point attempts this season and has made 63 straight, dating to last season.

Wide receiver Chris Noble (North Davidson '03) added two catches for 21 yards for Coastal, including his first touchdown catch of the season, a 12-yarder in the second quarter. Noble is second on the team in receiving, with 21 catches for 230 yards in 10 games.

Nitz, playing right marking back, had assists in four consecutive games at the start of conference play, finished the season with two goals and four assists and raised her career totals to four goals and six assists. She started all 19 matches and now has played in 59 consecutive matches in her career.

• Nick Stevens (East Forsyth '05) of St. Andrews and Chris Jasso (East Forsyth '03) of Mount Olive were honorable-mention picks in voting for the All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference men's soccer team.

Stevens played 1,385 minutes in goal, led the CVAC with seven shutouts and had a 1.49 goals-against average and a .763 save percentage. Jasso, a forward, had a goal and three assists and started all 19 matches.

• Rachel Barcio (Reynolds '02) closed her soccer career at Mars Hill on a high note, scoring her team's last goal of the season in a 3-1 loss to Tusculum in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Barcio, an outside defender, had six goals, an assist and 13 points this season. She had career totals of 18 goals, six assists and 42 points and started all 77 matches that the Lions played during her career.

• Greensboro's Katie Smith (NW Guilford '02) picked up a postseason honor last week when she was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's All-South team.

Smith led the USA South Athletic Conference in kills (4.5) and blocks (1.3) per game, led Greensboro to a 29-7 record, made the all-conference team for the fourth time and was the USA South player of the year. She was all-region twice and finished her career as Greensboro's leader in kills (1,853) and blocks (599).

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