Paladin men win Furman Cross Country Classic, women take third place
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men’s cross country team won the third annual Furman Cross Country Classic Saturday morning in Greenville, S.C., defeating Auburn, Wake Forest, and Clemson, while the Paladin women’s team took third place behind Auburn and Georgia.
The Paladin men scored 16 points for the win, beating second-place Auburn by 30 points. Seven of the Furman runners finished among the top nine, including junior Tanner Hinkle, who claimed first place in the 8K race for the second-consecutive year, turning in a time of 24:17.30. Hinkle was followed by sophomore Frank Lara in second at 24:18.20, while juniors Josh Brickell and Lee Shearer finished third (24:30.31) and fourth (24:35.39), respectively. Junior Troy Reeder completed the Paladin slate of scorers, placing sixth at 24:44.25.
Sophomore Austin Sprague claimed seventh place after crossing the line in 24:47.53, while sophomore Aaron Templeton finished ninth with a time of 24:54.91. Junior Matt Lange posted a time of 25:08.59 for 14th place, and sophomore Mark Hadley was 16th at 25:10.33. Junior Kyle Polman turned in a time of 25:26.34 for 23rd place, and sophomore Quintin McKinnish placed 51st at 26:26.08. Sophomore Hayden Cox completed the Furman lineup in 90th place at 28:10.02.
Auburn won the women’s meet with 30 points. The Furman women tallied 89 points in the 6K race, just three points behind Georgia, to take third place, beating out Clemson and Wake Forest. Paladin junior Allie Buchalski won the women’s meet with a time of 21:00.66, while junior Laura Miller placed sixth at 21:21.67. Sophomore Jacquelyn Crow turned in a time of 22:04.66 for 16th place, and junior Maddie Wolfe claimed 39th place at 22:36.92 Sophomore Emma Mashburn completed the Paladin scorers, placing 41st with a time of 22:41.40.
Sophomore Becca Cooley crossed the line in 22:44.21 to take 43rd place, and junior Bryce Seymour finished 66th with a time of 23:14.85. Junior Ann Sisson posted a time of 23:38.01 for 78th place.
Furman will compete at the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational in Charlottesville, Va., on September 26.
Lantz earns first again for The Citadel
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men’s and women’s cross country teams had another strong showing this weekend as the men took second and the women finished fourth at the College of Charleston Invitational.
Michael Lantz (25:46.8) and Ross Jordan (26:05.7) led the pack again, taking first and second overall in the 8k race; James Cunningham and Matthew Gill finished seventh and eighth. College of Charleston placed first as a team with the Bulldogs following close behind in second with a one-point margin separating the two schools. Pfeiffer and Armstrong State rounded out the competition in third and fourth, respectively.
College of Charleston took the women’s 5k heat as well, with The Citadel finishing fourth behind Towson and Pfeiffer. Grace Jenkins was the first Bulldog to cross the finish line with a time of 24:36.0. Bethany Reeves (25:27.2) followed closely behind.
Both teams have a week off before competing in the Will Wilson Citadel Invitational. The annual race, hosted by The Citadel, will be held in Mt. Pleasant on Sept. 29 at 9 a.m.
Wofford competes at Furman Cross Country Classic
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s and women’s cross country teams ran at the third annual Furman Cross Country Classic on Saturday morning. In a highly competitive field, both teams finished 11th among Division I teams.
In the women’s 6K race, Anya Bunao was the top finisher for Wofford with a time of 23:52.74 to place 54th. Marella Angello finished next for the Terriers at 24:04.35. Also running for Wofford were Sarah Spiro, Chandler Washburn, and Breck Peterson.
The men’s 8K competition followed and Cristian Widenhouse led the Terriers with a time of 27:09.75 to place 86th overall. Ryan Doyle and Alex Michaels were next to cross the finish line for Wofford with times of 27:20.87 and 27:21.08, respectively. Jonathan Rice, Jurdan Mossburg, and Ben Hensley also competed for the Terriers.
Furman won the men’s race, taking the top four individual spots. Auburn took first place in the women’s race with three of the top five finishers. The field also included Clemson, Wake Forest, and Georgia, among others.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the UNC Asheville Cross Country Invitational.
ETSU men finish seventh, women eighth, at Furman Classic
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On Saturday morning at the Furman Classic, the ETSU cross country program recorded top 10 finishes with the men placing seventh and the women finishing eighth.
Out of nearly 170 runners the ETSU men’s cross country team saw six of their seven runners finish in the top 50as sophomore Simeon Roberts paced the Bucs with a time of 25:26.55 placing 24th. The second finisher for the Bucs in 29th place was sophomore Daniel Sonnenfeldt, who recorded a 25:37.95 time. Rounding out the top five for the Blue & Gold was Carl Oberfeitinger (26:15.95), Angus Baldwin (26:21.63) and Haydn Metz-Borghetti (26:24.35).
On the men’s side the Bucs took seventh out of 12 teams and was the third Southern Conference team to finish behind Furman (first) and VMI (fifth). Nationally ranked Furman won the men’s race with all seven of their runners finishing in the top 10.
In the women’s meet the Bucs were led by junior Emily Williams who placed 34th out of 115 runners with a time of 22:36.52. Not far behind Williams was junior Sahara Fletcher who finished 54th overall with a time of 23:17.86. The three through five runners for ETSU all finished within 20 seconds of each other with junior Victoria Hutchens with a time of 24:02.40, followed by sophomore Macy Carrier at 24:07.09. Rounding out the top five for ETSU was sophomore Sarah Zimmer recording a time of 24:25.92.
The women finished eighth out of 13 teams with a final point’s total of 254. The Bucs finished ahead of their SoCon counterparts Mercer (10th), Wofford (11th) and VMI (12th) and were just behind Western Carolina (seventh). Furman was the top finisher from the conference earning 89 team points, placing third. The University of Auburn captured the Furman Classic crown.
It will be a short break for the cross country program as ETSU travels to Blacksburg, Va. for the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational next Friday, Sept. 18. The Bucs placed well last year during the event with the men finishing third while the women placed fifth.
Catamounts compete at the Furman Cross Country Classic
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Western Carolina men's and women's cross country teams were in action Saturday morning at the Furman Cross Country Classic. The women finished seventh out of a field of 13 that featured teams out of the SEC, ACC, SoCon, Big South and OVC. The men took eighth in their race out of 12.
Freshman Kaitlyn Lingard once again led the Catamount women as she ran the second fastest 6K time in program history and finished 15th overall in 21:58.29. Lingard is just the second Catamount to run a sub-22 minute 6K joining former Catamount Mara Smith. Lingard defeated runners from Clemson, Auburn, Georgia and Wake Forest.
As a team the Catamounts finished ahead of Southern Conference members ETSU (eighth), Mercer (10th), Wofford (11th) and VMI (12th). Auburn, Georgia and Furman stood at the top of the podium following the event.
Senior Kaitlyn Shetler moved into the top-15 in program history for a 6K time as she finished 59th at 23:36.56. Sophomore Madison Goode was WCU's third finisher as she crossed the line in 63rd with a time of 23:39.67 which ranks 16th in the WCU record book.
The men finished ahead of Southern Conference foes Mercer and Wofford and just behind ETSU. Furman, Auburn and Wake Forest took the top three spots in the team standings.
Junior Tommy Connell and freshman Harrison Conner took the final two scoring spots for the men. Connell finished 128th overall in 27:22.81 while Conner crossed the line in 143rd with a time of 27:41.11.
WCU will return to action next Saturday at the UNC Asheville Invitational at 9 a.m.
VMI men finish fifth at Furman
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Avery Martin finished 17th among Division I competitors in a crowded 8K field to lead the VMI men's cross country team at the Furman XC Classic, contested Saturday in Greenville, S.C.
Martin led the way for the Keydets with a 17th place result, as he crossed the line in 25:12. Sean Helmke was just behind him in 21st (25:18), while Brandon White (25:48/31st) and Daniel DeNIjs (25:54/35th) were VMI's #3 and #4 runners, respectively.
The rest of VMI's individual finishers included Jay Broom (26:21) and Kyle Sabourin (26:27), who were 46th and 52nd. Zach Chase (27:15/71st), Patrick Spahn (27:21/7th), Micah Ellington (27:22/77th), and Luke Phillips (28:10/91st). Tanner Hinkle won the 8K race in 24:17 and, in the process, led a Paladin sweep of the top four Division I finishers.
VMI finished fifth in the Division I portion of the standings, well ahead of both sixth-place Georgia and seventh-place East Tennessee State.
VMI cross country will return to action Sept. 18, when the Keydets take part in the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational in Blacksburg.
Mercer competes at Furman Cross Country Classic
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Mercer University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the third annual Furman Cross Country Classic on Saturday in Greenville, S.C.
The men's team finished 10th out of 12 NCAA Division I programs, posting an average time of 27:36.62 en route to a total team score of 305 in the team's first 8k race of the year.
Freshman Ahmed Jama once again led the Bears, completing the course in 26:19.34 on his way to a 41st-place finish. Mark Brannen was next Mercer runner to cross the line, leading a pack of runners with a 62nd place finish (27:38.28). Nicholas Ashmead was just five seconds behind in 65th (27:43.46), while Evan Park followed in 67th (27:47.30).
Justin Hanson rounded out the scoring for the Bears, wrapping up his day in 70th place with a time of 28:34.72. Abraham Balawi and McHenry Power closed out Mercer's top-7 with times of 28:47.40 and 28:49.10 respectively.
No. 18 Furman ran away from the crowd to win the men's meet, while Auburn and Wake Forest rounded out the top three.
The Bears' women's squad finished 10th out of the 13-team field, compiling an average time of 24:04.81 for the 6k course to finish with 282 team points.
Jenna Gipperich led Mercer once again, finishing 38th with a time of 22:48.11. Fellow senior Kami Orrender was close behind, crossing the line in 22:58.43 to place 41st.
Bethanie Bailey was the third finisher for the women's team, completing her first collegiate 6k race in 24:39.99. Courtney Czerniak (24:43.22) and Shannon Millikin (25:14.26) rounded out the top five scorers for Mercer, while Katie-Rose Alligood (25:16.26) and Cheyenne Andrew (25:25.64) closed out the top-7.
Auburn won the women's title, while Georgia and Furman finished second and third respectively.
Mercer will have a week off, before hosting its own Julius Johnson Invitational on Friday, Sept. 25.