AUGUSTA, GA – Francis Marion University junior Meagan Wright finished third in a school-record time to earn All-Conference honors, while freshman Devin Nelson led the FMU men as both Patriot squads finished 10th at the Peach Belt Conference Championships, Saturday morning (Nov. 8) at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga.

Wright completed the 6,000-meter course in 21:47.14 to earn the highest finish ever for a Patriot women's runner at the PBC meet.  The Florence native's finish bested sixth-place finishes by FMU's Kelly May in 2008 and Jennifer Vallejo in 1992.  Wright bettered her own school record for 6,000-meters by more than 1:11, a mark she set earlier this year on the same course at the GRU Augusta Jaguar Invitational Meet.

Three other Patriot women set personal-best times for that distance on Saturday.  Freshman Jacy Smith finished in 76th position with a time of 25:24.74, while freshman MacKenzie Arnold (personal-best 25:56.55) placed 82nd, freshman Mariah Johnson (personal-best 27:12.01) was 94th, freshman Yaping Yang (personal-best 29:37.04) was 97th, sophomore Nicole Edlmann (30:58.43) was 100th, and sophomore Emmeline Wheeler (31:44.99) was 101st.

Nelson finished 41st over the 8,000-meter men's course with a personal-best time of 26:50.47, the eighth best Patriot time for that distance since 1992 and the fastest FMU time for a true freshman over the past 13 seasons.

In addition to Nelson, four other Patriot men set personal-best times.  Freshman Javier Bustos Jaimes posted his fastest time ever (27:04.60) to finish in 49th place, while sophomore Jeremiah Hayes (personal-best 28:52.41) was 69th, senior Justin Koehn (29:39.31) was 75th, sophomore Aaron Robinson (personal-best 30:12.72) was 77th, freshman Jonathon Reid (30:28.43) was 80th, and senior Simon Nett (personal-best 31:48.99) was 83rd.

The University of Montevallo easily captured the women's team title, while Columbus State University edged UNC Pembroke for the men's team championship.