COLUMBIA, SC – Led by senior Javier Bustos Jaimes and sophomore Alison Filer, the Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country teams captured team titles in the NCAA Division II portion of the Carolina Challenge, held Saturday morning (Sept. 2) in Columbia.

The FMU men edged Coker College for the title, while the Patriot women held a comfortable edge over second-place Benedict College.

Bustos Jaimes finished third among Division II runners as he completed the 5,000-meter course in 17:12.3, while sophomore Ivan Henderson was fifth with a personal-best time of 17:43.8.  Other Patriot runners included senior Devin Nelson in seventh (18:04.4), senior Jonathan Reid in eighth (18:13.8), junior Brandon Boggs in 11th (19:16.4), and junior Carlos Oliver in 12th (19:25.9).

Filer recorded a personal-best time of 21:15.8 over the 5,000-meter course to place second.  Other FMU finishers included sophomore Emma Driggers in third (21:30.9), senior MacKenzie Arnold in fourth (personal-best 21:33.8), senior Taylor Brunson in eighth (22:24.2), sophomore Alexis Byers in 14th (24:35.4), and sophomore Jasmine Watson in 28th (31:30.6).

Including the Division I schools at the meet, Francis Marion placed seventh in both overall standings.

Both Francis Marion squads will compete in the AU Jaguar Invitational hosted by Augusta University, Saturday, Sept. 9, at 8:15 a.m.