Patriots place 4th and 8th at UNCP Cross Country Invitational

LUMBERTON, NC - The Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country teams finished fourth and eighth respectively on Saturday (Sept. 5) at the UNC Pembroke Invitational Meet in Lumberton, N.C.

The meet, held at Luther Britt Park, was the season opener for both FMU squads.

Senior Hillary Kiprop paced the Francis Marion men with a seventh-place finish.  He completed the 8,000-meter race in 27:56.  Freshman Justin Albertson, a native of Aiken, was the second FMU finisher with a 24th-place showing in a time of 29:57. 

Other Patriot runners included junior Jerry Roth in 41st place (31:31), junior Ben Miller in 43rd place (32:01), and freshman Ian Wallace in 50th place (33:50).

Senior Amanda Doyle was the first FMU finisher in the women's race.  She placed 26th with a time of  28:12 over the 6,000-meter course.  Patriot sophomore Samantha Smith finished 34th (29:06), freshman Sierra Young was 49th (33:23), senior Amanda Booker was 50th (33:24), and senior Holly Todd was 63rd (37:07).

UNCP's Pardon Ndhlovu won the men's race in a time of 25:26, while Methodist University's Kristyn Zeiler captured the women's title with a time of 23:25.  UNCP won the men's team title, while Augusta State University finished atop the women's team standings.

Both Francis Marion teams will compete in the Pre-Regional Meet next Saturday morning (Sept. 12) in Wingate, N.C.

UNCP Invitational Men's Cross Country Meet

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1          Univ. NC at Pembroke             40

2          Winston Salem State Univ.      53

3          Wingate University                  61

4          Francis Marion Univ.                123

5          Pfeiffer University                    137

6          Methodist University                157

7          Shaw University                       177

8          Averett Univ.                            192

UNCP Invitational Women's Cross Country Meet

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1          Augusta State Univ.               25

2          Pfeiffer University                   69

3          Wingate University                 106

4          Winston Salem State Univ.     107

5          Univ. NC at Pembroke             121

6          Methodist University               161

7          Averett Univ.                           199

8          Francis Marion Univ.                207

9          Shaw University                      219

10        Georgia Southwestern State  224