Patriot runners record two Top 5 finishes

AIKEN, SC – The Francis Marion University men’s and women’s cross country teams finished third and fourth respectively at Saturday’s (Sept. 25) inaugural Bridgestone-Pacer Invitational, hosted by USC Aiken.

Freshman Whitney Wagner again led the FMU women she finished the 5,000-meter Pacer Path course in 21:07, which placed her fifth overall.

Other Patriot runners were junior Samantha Smith in 18th position (22:54), freshman LaMeisha Jackson in 19th (22:55), freshman Charity Hawkins in 30th (24:38), senior Amanda Booker in 35th (26:54), and freshman London Barnhill in 37th (32:05).

Sophomore Ian Wallace paced the Francis Marion men for the third consecutive race.  Wallace finished 12th with a time of 30:21 over the 8,000-meter layout.

Sophomore Justin Albertson was the second FMU finisher as he placed 13th (30:29), followed by senior Ben Miller in 16th (31:28), junior Ryan Woloszyn in 19th (32:17), senior Jerry Roth in 20th (34:32), and freshman Michael Bigelow in 21st (34:36).

Clayton State University captured both the men’s and women’s team titles.

The Francis Marion squads will return to action when they run in the Queens University of Charlotte Invitational on Oct. 15.