ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Presbyterian College men's and women's cross country teams had good showings at the 2010 Asics Winthrop Invitational on Saturday in Rock Hill, S.C. The event also doubled as the South Carolina Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship.
The men's team finished ninth in the overall Division I field and eighth out of South Carolina schools, where as the women finished 10th in Division I and ninth for in-state schools.
Senior Nicholas Baer led the Blue Hose men's team with an improved time of 28:19 over the 8k course. The co-captain cut seven seconds off last year's time and 27 seconds off the last race. Also improving was freshman Seth Warner who shaved an identical 27 seconds off the last race and finished at a new 8k personal record of 29:01.
Senior Adam Harris crossed the line at 29:57 with two freshmen in close pursuit. Ryan Wasilewski cut 50 seconds off his previous time to finish the race in 30:10 with Richard Taylor just behind him at 30:17.
PC junior Josh Morrisette improved from the Eye Opener an impressive 34 seconds and stopped the clock at 31:33. Sophomore Brian Trail improved the most, with an impressive one minute and seven seconds dropping from the first race. Trail crossed the line at 32:50. Junior Will Ruark rounded out the men's team by shaving one minute and 16 seconds off last year's race and finishing at 33:33.
In the overall men's Division I race, the Blue Hose scored 222 points and had an average time of 29:33. Appalachian State won the overall men's championship with 23 points and an average time of 25:23. Furman won the men's state championship with 30 points and averaged 25:59 per scorer.
Freshman Alex Thomas led the women's team with a time of 20:59. Junior Stephanie Newell crossed the line just one second off her performance from last season and finished at 22:48. Sophomore Emily Witt had a good race and finished third for the team. She improved over thirty seconds from last season and stopped the clock at 23:31. Senior Natalie Parkman also had a good day when she clocked in at 24:17. The co-captain improved over a minute from last season and 12 seconds from the first race week. Freshman Mary Kathryn Piontek rounded out the scoring five and finished at 24:42.
As a team, the women finished with 241 points and an average time of 23:15. The University of South Carolina won both championships with an average time of 18:35.
For the complete set of corrected results, please check the attached pdfs.
The PC cross country teams will next travel to Blacksburg, Va., to preview the 2010 Big South Conference Championship course on Sept. 25. Radford is hosting the event.
