WEST COLUMBIA, SC – The Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country teams each finished sixth at Saturday's (Oct. 6) Columbia College Invitational.

The Patriot men finished with a team score of 140, four points behind fifth-place Lander University. Truett-McConnell College captured the men's team title with a 45 score.

Junior Ivan Henderson paced the Patriot men with a 13th-place finish as he finished the 8,000-meter course in 30:49.9.  FMU freshman Parker Calvert was the next Patriot finisher as he placed 20th in 32:02.6. Three other freshmen completed the Francis Marion squad as Wyatt Witman (34:22.3) was 30th, Christian England (35:17.3) was 34th, and John Talbert (47:16.0) was 65th.

On the women's side, Francis Marion finished with a team score of 149, finishing ahead of both local-rival Coker College and Peach Belt Conference foe Lander University.  Brenau University won the women's team championship with a 78-point total.

Patriot junior Andrea Liddell led the FMU women for the fourth consecutive meet, as she finished fourth overall with a time of 21:30.0 over the 5,000-meter course.

Other FMU runners included juniors Alison Filer in 16th (23:10.2), Emma Driggers in 33rd (24:22.3), Alexis Byers in 35th (24:28.3), and Jasmine Watson in 65th (34:38.9).

Both Patriot squads will compete in the Sand Shark Invitational hosted by USC Beaufort in Hardeeville, S.C., on Oct. 20.