Cross Country | 10/28/2023 11:31:00 PM

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.  Methodist University men's and women's cross country teams ran in the 2023 USA South Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning. The race was once again held on the campus of North Carolina Wesleyan University, where the Monarch men came in fourth place and the women finished in sixth.
 
Following both races, sophomore Alex Topoly was named to the league's Second Team All-Conference list after coming in ninth overall, his first post-season honor of his career.
 
The criteria for making the list is based on the placement of the student-athletes at the USA South meet. For both sides, the top-five finishers are named to the First Team and finishers 6-10 are named to the Second Team. There is also an Honorable Mention team for finishers 11-13 in the men's race and finishers 11-14 in the women's race.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 2023 USA South Athletic Conference Championships (6K women, 8K men)
Location: N.C. Wesleyan University; Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Top teams, men: 1 – Southern Virginia University (21 pts.), 2 – Pfeiffer University (53), 3 – Brevard College (82)
Top individuals, men: 1 – Dylan May, SVU (25:02.0), 2 – Kedryn Chandler, SVU (26:19.7), 3 – Cannon Powell, Pfeiffer (26:23.9)
Top teams, women: 1 – Meredith College (23 pts.), 2 – SVU (49), 3 – Pfeiffer (53)
Top individuals, women: 1 – Madison Lowery, Pfeiffer (22:32.2), 2 – Madelyn Merna, Meredith (23:20.0), 3 – Andrea Gallegos, Meredith (23:25.3)

MONARCH NOTES

• In the men's 8-kilometer race, Topoly finished with a time of 27 minutes, 12.2 seconds.
• Gabe Sawyer, the fastest Methodist rookie, came in 17th overall following a time of 29:00.5.
• There was an eight second split difference the next three Monarchs to cross with Logan Williams (29:12.0) coming in 19th, Will Gray (29:17.1) in 20th, and Jackson Barriger (29:20.5) in 22nd.
• The next two Methodist runners to finish were Rafael Shilengitha (23rd place, 29:37.9) and Noah Carter (26th, 29:56.8).
• Rounding out the men's team is Landon Faircloth (30th, 30:32.2) and Austin Ezzell (31st, 30:47.2).
• The fastest Monarch on the women's side was freshman Makalyn Wilms (29th overall) with a time of 28:45.4.
• Coming in 33rd and 36th place, respectively, was Patti Busch (29:56.7) and Adriana Blakeney (33:27.8).
• Also, competing were Imani Kee (38th, 34:05.2), Charmaine Robison (41st, 36:00.4), and Niya Johnson (42nd, 36:08.2).

UP NEXT
The next time these two programs will run again is in two weeks, November 11, at the 2023 NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championships, which will be held in Mount Berry, Georgia.