WILMINGTON, NC - Led by junior Ian Wallace and sophomore Whitney Wagner, the Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country teams both placed eighth at the 22nd-annual Seahawk Invitational Meet, Friday (Sept. 9) at UNC Wilmington.

The two 5,000-meter races were held in near-perfect weather on the UNCW campus recreation fields.

Wallace placed 34th with a time of 17:00 to lead the Patriot men.  Freshman Justin Carter finished 51st in a time of 18:02, followed by senior Ryan Woloszyn in 61st (18:19), freshman Alex McIntosh in 62nd (18:23), junior Justin Albertson in 63rd (18:23), sophomore Michael Bigelow in 74th (19:08), and sophomore Braylen Bloise in 83rd (20:17).

The UNCW men nosed out Campbell University, 28-32, to capture first place.  Francis Marion defeated local-rival Coker College and finished only 11 points out of sixth position.

Wagner, who has led the Patriot women in every race she has finished in her career, placed 27th with a time of 20:58.  Senior Samantha Smith was 41st in 21:56, while sophomore Diana Levy finished 77th (25:31), freshman Allyson Franklin was 81st (25:53), and sophomore London Barnhill was 90th (27:08).

Campbell won the women's title, with three of the top five finishers. FMU also placed ahead of the Coker women.

Campbell's Nicol-Samuel DeLohnni won the men's race with a time of 15:24, while Barton College's Ericka Skinner easily won the women's race with a convincing 25-second win (18:12).

Both Patriot teams will run in the Bridgestone-Pacer Invitational Meet, hosted by USC Aiken, next Saturday morning (Sept. 17).