AIKEN, SC – The Francis Marion University women's and men's cross country teams finished second and third respectively at the Bridgestone-Pacer Invitational Meet, Friday evening (Oct. 4) in Aiken, S.C.

The FMU women totaled 49 points and finished second behind Georgia College with 23 points.  For the third straight race, seniors Whitney Wagner and Rebeccah Hoekstra led the Patriot women.  Wagner completed the 5,000-meter course in 21:02 to place fifth, while Hokestra was eighth in 21:30.

Junior Hayden Clapper finished in 13th position with a time of 22:52, while freshman Ashley Wingate was 16th (23:41), senior Diana Levy was 19th (24:18), senior London Barnhill was 25th (27:11), freshman Emmeline Wheeler was 26th (27:19), junior Kasey Bradley was 28th (27:49), and freshman Nicole Edlmann was 31st (29:05).

On the men's side, Francis Marion finished one point out of second place while Georgia College claimed the team title with a perfect 15 score.

A trio of freshmen runners paced the Patriot men.  Justin Woodard placed 10th with a time of 31:33 over the 8,000-meter course.  Jeremiah Hayes finished 11th in a time of 32:45 and Gino Lucarelli was 15th in 34:08.

Junior Justin Koehn was 16th (36:34), followed by senior Michael Bigelow in 19th position (37:11), freshman Aaron Robinson in 20th (38:33), and freshman Mark Anthony-Holden in 21st (38:48).

Both Francis Marion squads will run on next Friday (Oct. 11) at the Queens University of Charlotte's Royal Cross Country Challenge. The races will begin at 5 p.m.