Francis Marion runners compete in NCAA regional meet

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country teams both finished 25th at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Meet held Saturday morning (Nov. 20) at McAlpine Park in Charlotte.

Freshman Whitney Wagner led the Patriot women with a 69th-place finish as she completed the 6,000-meter course in 25:03.

FMU freshman LaMeisha Jackson placed 111th with a time of 26:06.  She easily bettered her 6,000-meter time of 27:51 set two weeks ago at the Peach Belt Conference championships.  Junior Samantha Smith finished No.135 with a personal-best time of 27:00, followed by freshman Charity Hawkins in 163rd position (28:41), freshman London Barnhill in 175th (29:55), and senior Amanda Booker in 182nd (30:48).

Sophomore Ian Wallace again paced the FMU men as he finished No.86 with a time of 35:37 over 10,000-meters.  Sophomore Justin Albertson placed No.128 with a time of 37:45, while junior Ryan Woloszyn was No. 138 (38:48), freshman Michael Bigelow was 145th (39:56), senior Jerry Roth was 146th (39:59), and senior Ben Miller was 151st (40:51).

The host school, Queens University of Charlotte, captured both team titles.

         Ian Wallace