Cross Country | 10/14/2023 5:57:00 PM
GREENVILLE, N.C. Methodist University men's and women's cross country teams ran in the 2023 East Carolina University Pirate Cross Country Invitational on Saturday morning. Both Monarchs squads finished in last place as a team, men seventh; women tenth, but they faced a much tougher field that was predominantly NCAA Division I athletes.
THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 2023 ECU Pirate XC Invitational (8K men, 6K women)
Location: Lake Kristi; Greenville, North Carolina
Top teams, men: 1 – Temple University (43 pts.), 2 – Virginia Commonwealth University (54), 3 – Norfolk State University (65)
Top individuals, men: 1 – David Vorbach, Unattached (23:27.5), 2 – Gidion Sigei, Norfolk State (23:42.4), 3 – Raphael Kitur, Norfolk State (23:44.9)
Top teams, women: 1 – East Carolina (52 pts.), 2 – Florida Atlantic University (85), 3 – VCU (88)
Top individuals, women: 1 – Lauren Tunnell, VCU (20:42.6), 2 – Jolena Quarzo, Unattached (20:58.9), 3 – Frances Whitworth, Davisdson College (21:17.5)
MONARCH NOTES
- Scoring the highest for Methodist in the men's eight-kilometer race was Alex Topoly with a time of 27 minutes, 16.8 seconds, which was good 51st overall. Will Gray finished right after him following his time of 27:21.7.
- Gabe Sawyer was the fastest Monarch men's rookie, who came in 55th place after completing the course in 27:57.5.
- The next trio to cross the finish line for Methodist was Logan Williams (58th; 28:22.0), Rafael Shilengitha (59th; 28:50.3), and Noah Carter (60th; 28:51.1).
- Rounding out the Monarch men's side were Austin Ezzell (62nd; 29:10.2) and Landon Faircloth (65th, 30:19.9).
- On the women side, which was a 6k race, Makalyn Wilms came 78th after clocking a time of 28:56.1. Coming in two spots after Wilms, was Patti Busch with a time of 30:54.2.
- Placing in 82nd through 85th, respectively, was Adriana Blakeney (34:35.3), Imani Kee (36:47.3), Niya Johnson (37:42.2), and Charmaine Robison (37:53.6).
UP NEXT
Methodist now has two weeks to prepare for the 2023 USA South Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. The conference meet is slated for Saturday, Oct. 28 in Rocky Mount, N.C.
