FLORENCE, SC – Seniors Whitney Wagner and Rebeccah Hoekstra finished neck-and-neck for second and third place to help lead the Francis Marion University women's cross country team to the team title at the annual FMU Invitational Meet, held Friday afternoon (Oct. 18) at the Freedom Florence Recreational Complex. The Patriot men placed third with Darlington native Aaron Robinson pacing the FMU squad in a personal-best time.
The FMU women tallied a 34 team score to edge NCAA Division I Presbyterian College (45). USC Aiken (48) placed third, followed by Methodist College (108), and Fayetteville State University (128).
Wagner bested Hoekstra by just over a second at the finish line to capture second place. She finished the 5,000-meter course in 20:15.48, while Hoekstra crossed at 20:17.01.
FMU junior Hayden Clapper finished sixth in 21:49, while freshman Ashley Wingate was seventh in 21:50. Other Patriot runners were senior Diana Levy in 16th position (23:30), senior London Barnhill in 19th (24:19), freshman Emmeline Wheeler in 20th (25:03), freshman Nicole Edlmann in 24th (personal-best time of 26:01), and junior Kasey Bradley in 26th (26:09).
USCA senior Keely Gillespie claimed the women's individual crown in a time of 19:40.
Presbyterian tallied 38 points to win the men's team title, followed by Methodist (39), FMU (62), Fayetteville State (97), and Paine College (134).
Robinson, a freshman, registered a time of 17:51 on the 5,000-meter course and finished seventh. Fellow freshman Justin Woodard crossed the finish line in 17:56 to place eighth. Other FMU finishers included junior Justin Koehn in 14th (season-best 18:31), freshman Jeremiah Hayes in 15th (personal-best 18:38), freshman Gino Lucarelli in 18th (personal-best 19:03), senior Michael Bigelow in 21st (season-best 19:34), and freshman Mark Anthony-Holden in 26th (personal-best 21:19).
Senior Eduardo Riera of Methodist won the men's race in a time of 17:13.
Francis Marion head coach Mark Bluman expressed his sincere thanks to Greg Elmore and Carolina Running Company, Wilson High School, and the City of Florence for helping put on the meet.
Both FMU teams will run in the Peach Belt Conference Championship Meet on Saturday, Oct. 26, in Americus, Ga.
