WINGATE, NC – Sophomore Emma Steen and freshman Jaden Alexander led the Francis Marion University women's and men's cross country teams on Saturday morning (Sept. 20) as the Patriot squads finished 12th in both races at the 12th-annual Bulldog Stampede Meet hosted by Wingate University.
 
Both FMU squads will next race in UNC Greensboro's Spartan Classic at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, at the Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, N.C.
 
Saturday in the women's 6,000-meter race, Steen bettered her personal-best time by more than five minutes as the Hartsville native placed 75th in 27:25.2.  Sophomore Alia Turcios also set a new personal-best time (28:30.6) for that distance and finished 82nd.
 
Other Patriot finishers were senior Caroline Thompkins (28:56.5) in 87th position, sophomore Katelynn Roberts (29:13.8) in 88th, sophomore Rowan Hearn (29:27.5) in 90th, freshman Addison Roberts (29:39.0) in 93rd, sophomore Mia Edmundson (32:32.9) in 98th, junior Briggs Kelly (32:40.2) in 99th, and freshman Deyra Martinez (34:58.5) in 104th.  Katelynn Roberts, a product of Latta High School, also set a personal-best time for 6K.
 
Alexander led the Patriot men with a time of 26:37.49 over the 7,000-meter course to place 109th.  Sophomore Kyle Elliott, a Hannah-Pamplico High School product, was the next FMU finisher as he came in 131st position with a time of 29:47.46.
 
The other Francis Marion runners were junior Niclas Giessler (29:54.99) in 134th, sophomore and Marion High School product Grayson Hartson (30:13.15) in 135th, and senior Michael James (33:49.55) in 139th.
 
Twenty-eighth-ranked Catawba College bettered the fifth-ranked Bulldogs to win the women's team title, while 30th-ranked Anderson edged Catawba to capture the men's team championship, while top-ranked Wingate placed third.