CHARLOTTE, NC - The Francis Marion University women's and men's cross country teams placed 30th and 32nd respectively at the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational Meet, held Friday afternoon and evening (Sept. 28).

In the men's race, senior Ian Wallace was FMU's top runner, finishing 122nd with an 8,000-meter time of 26:52.85. He bettered his personal-best time for an 8K race by an amazing 1:25, and his overall time represents the 21st fastest 8k time in school history.  Sophomore Justin Carter was 217th (30:14.07), followed by freshman Conner McGraw in 227th (31:34.01), sophomore Alex McIntosh in 231st (32:11.51), sophomore Justin Koehn in 235th (32:25.25), freshman Guy McCarter in 239th (33:36.25), and junior Braylin Bloise in 242nd (35:34.57).

Junior Whitney Wagner led the Patriot women by completing the 6,000-meter course in 25:35.14 to finish 160th in the large meet.  Junior London Barnhill placed 208th in a personal-best 29:50.04, followed by freshman Hannah Muzzillo in 210th position (29:59.61), junior Diana Levy in 216th (31:16.26), freshman Danielle Velasquez in 217th (31:23.70), and sophomore Kasey Bradley in 222nd (32:49.69).

Clemson University won the women's team title, besting second-place Appalachian State University, while Virginia Tech captured the men's championship by placing five runners in the Top 11 as Wake Forest University placed second.

Both Francis Marion squads will run in the Hagan Stone Invitational Meet in Greensboro, N.C., on Oct. 6.