SPARTANBURG, SC – Sophomores Annalena Griffin and Pearson Mixon paced the Francis Marion University women's and men's cross country teams at the Converse University Kick-Off Regional Preview Meet, Saturday morning (Sept. 18) at Milliken Research Park.  The Patriot women placed 22nd and the men finished 24th.
 
The two Francis Marion squads will next run on Oct. 8 at the Royals Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Queens University of Charlotte at McAlpine Creek Park.
 
Griffin finished the 6,000-meter race in a personal-best time of 28:39.6 to finish in 161st position. She was followed by freshman Caroline Thompkins in 170th place with a time of 29:03.8 and senior Sarah Harris (29:36.8) in 177th place.
 
Sophomore Ina Marie Sullivan (32:15.3) finished in 193rd place, while freshman Haizley Herndon (36:58.6) was 206th.
 
The men's race was run over an 8,000-meter course.  Mixon placed 116th as the West Florence High School product recorded a personal-best time of 28:57.4, shaving nearly 25 seconds off his previous best race.
 
Senior Christian England (29:54.4) was the next FMU finisher in 167th position, followed by sophomore Cullen Dore (30:05.1) in 180th, sophomore Logan Zeis (32:10.5) in 232nd, freshman Y'zeqez Timmons (34:25.0) in 250th, and senior Anthony Melo (36:42.0) in 264th position.