LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A pair of former Colorado College standouts and three-time conference Runners-of-the-Year – Jackson Brainerd and Nick Hall – highlight an impressive list of student-athletes named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's 30th Anniversary men’s cross country team. Complete Release
Colorado College led the way with six selections to the exclusive team, followed closely by Trinity University with five selections. Former league members Centre College and Rhodes College placed two and one honoree, respectively, on the all-anniversary team.
SCAC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY – 30TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM
- Jackson Brainerd, Colorado College
- Tony Calderon, Colorado College
- Nick Hall, Colorado College
- Taylor Piske, Trinity University
- Julian Boggs, Colorado College
- Alex Nichols, Colorado College
- Max Blackburn, Colorado College
- Elliot Blake, Trinity University
- Chase Wilson, Centre College
- Austin Brown, Trinity University
- Chass Armstrong, Trinity University
- Chris Moore, Rhodes College
- Michael Erickson, Trinity University
- Jason Parks, Centre College
Brainerd became just the third runner in league history to earn SCAC Runner-of-the-Year honors three times in their career, taking top honors in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He was the league’s Freshman-of-the-Year in 2008 and led the CC men to conference titles his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. On the national stage, Brainerd was a four-time USTFCCCA All-Region performer and won the NCAA West Region individual title as a sophomore, junior and senior. He was an All-American in 2009 when he finished 18th at the national championship meet.
After earning SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors in 2011, Hall put together three consecutive SCAC Runner-of-the-Year performances in 2012, 2013 and 2014 – becoming the league’s fourth three-time ROTY honoree. A four-time USTFCCCA All-Region performer, Hall led Colorado College to the SCAC men’s team title as a senior in 2014 – the program’s fifth championship in eight years.
Calderon is one of just two runners over the last 15 years to post top-five finishes all four years at the conference championship meet – culminating with an individual title and Runner-of-the-Year honors his senior year at the 2019 conference meet in Colorado. The victory was the first for a conference runner while his team served as host of the event since the 2003 championship.
Trinity’s Piske posted three top-five finishes at the SCAC championships in his career, including his senior season when he earned Runner-of-the-Year honors with a first-place finish at the 2015 event. A four-time USTFCCCA All-Region performer and the league’s Freshman-of-the-Year in 2012, Piske was a member of three SCAC title-winning teams.
Boggs, Colorado College’s only three-time All-American (2005, 2006 and 2007), won SCAC Runner-of-the-Year honors as a junior in 2006. His third place finish at the 2006 national championship meet is the best-ever for a men’s runner in the SCAC era and is tied for the second-highest finish all-time (Mark Whalley of Principia won the 1981 national championship after finishing third in 1980).
CC’s Nichols was SCAC Runner-of-the-Year in 2007 the same season he led a 1-2-3 Tiger sweep to give the program its first-ever SCAC championship in any sport. He finished 14th at the 2007 NCAA Championships, just behind his teammate Julian Boggs, to earn All-America honors. Nichols returned to his alma mater in 2012 and has served as assistant cross country and track and field coach since.
A three-time All-SCAC performer, Blackburn won SCAC Runner-of-the-Year honors as a sophomore in 2017 and returned from a year spent abroad his junior campaign to finish runner-up at the 2019 championship. He capped his senior season at Colorado College with an All-West Region honor after a 29th place finish at that event.
Trinity’s Blake was a three-time All-SCAC performer, culminating in Runner-of-the-Year honors as a senior in 2018. He went on to claim All-Region honors with a ninth place finish at the South/Southeast Regional – a result that earned him a trip to the 2018 national championship meet.
Centre’s Wilson was a two-time All-SCAC honoree, capping his career with the 2008 SCAC Runner-of-the-Year award his senior season when he led his team to their first men’s cross country conference title since 1989. Wilson went on to win the NCAA South/Southeast Regional as the Centre men earned a trip to the national championship meet for the fourth time in five years.
Trinity’s Brown is one of just two members on the all-anniversary squad (CC’s Calderon) who posted top five finishes at each of their four SCAC championship meet races – peaking with a runner-up finish as a junior in 2016. He was a three-time USTFCCCA All-Region honoree and helped lead the Tigers to SCAC crowns in 2015 and 2017.
Armstrong was a three-time All-SCAC performer for Trinity, posting top-five finishes at the conference championship in both 2007 (5th) and 2008 (4th). He earned USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast Region honors all four years at Trinity, including 2017 when he was the team’s highest finisher at 13th and in 2009 when he finished 14th and helped the Tigers to a third place team finish.
Rhodes’ Moore earned All-SCAC honors three times, including a personal-best fourth-place finish at the 2010 championships as a senior. He was a four-time USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast Region performer, finishing in the top 12 three of his four appearances while earning one team and two individual trips to the NCAA national championships.
Trinity’s Erickson was a four-time All-SCAC honoree and earned three top-five finishes in his career – including runner-up finishes in both 2015 and 2017. He finished just 1.24 seconds behind Colorado College’s Max Blackburn in the 2017 race – the third-closest finish in the history of the SCAC men’s cross country championship. He earned USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast honors in 2015.
Parks was a three-time All-SCAC and four-time USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast performer in his four years at Centre. In 2008, he finished second at the SCAC meet, completing the 1-2 sweep with teammate Chase Wilson that vaulted the Colonels to their first conference title since 1989. Later that same year, his 11th place finish helped Centre win the South/Southeast regional meet and qualify for nationals.
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will be announcing 30th Anniversary teams in 21 sports throughout the 2020-21 academic year. The league selected 15th Anniversary teams during the 2005-06 academic year – those selections can be found here.
The SCAC's 30th Anniversary teams were selected through balloting by present coaches in each sport as well as administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2020 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams and/or were a selected as a Player-of-the-Year in their respective sport were eligible for selection.
The SCAC was formed in 1991 after a reorganization of its predecessor, the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC dates to 1962 with four charter members: Centre College, Southwestern @ Memphis (now Rhodes College), Sewanee-The University of the South, and Washington & Lee (Va.) University. Washington (Mo.) University joined the CAC later that same year.
The SCAC was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences.
