CHARLOTTE, NC – Francis Marion University junior Meagan Wright and freshman Devin Nelson paced the Francis Marion University women's and men's squads at the Royals Cross Country Challenge hosted by Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday morning (Oct. 11).

Wright placed 14th with a time of 19:02.4 over the 5,000-meter course to help lead the Patriot women to a 16th-place finish in the team standings.

Nelson finished 81st over the 8,000-meter men's course with a time of 28:27.5 as the FMU men placed 22nd in the team standings.

Other Patriot finishers in the women's race were freshman Jacy Smith (personal-best 20:43.5) in 71st position, freshman MacKenzie Arnold (personal-best 22:02.8) in 118th, freshman Mariah Johnson (personal-best 23:18.3) in 173rd, freshman Yaping Yang (personal-best 25:23.2) in 219th, sophomore Nicole Edlmann (26:07.2) in 229th, and sophomore Emmeline Wheeler (27:49.4) in 235th place.

Behind Nelson on the men's squad were freshman Javier Bustos Jaimes (28:55.7) in 104th place, freshman Jonathon Reid (30:05.2) in 140th, senior Justin Koehn (31:16.7) in 165th, sophomore Jeremiah Hayes (31:23.9) in 169th, sophomore Aaron Robinson (31:46.9) in 178th, and senior Simon Nett (personal-best 32:18.2) in 181st position.

Savannah College of Art & Design won the women's team title, while Tennessee Wesleyan College topped the men's team standings.

The FMU teams will host the annual FMU Invitational Meet at Freedom Florence on Friday, Oct. 24, beginning at 4 p.m.