Methodist Men Come in Second While Women Come in Fifth at Greensboro XC Invite

By: Michael Spratt

Cross Country | 9/30/2023 5:52:00 PM

GREENSBORO, N.C. Methodist University men's and women's cross country teams participated in the 39^th addition of the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Following the end of the five-kilometer race, for both the men & women, the Monarchs as a team placed in second (men) and fifth (women).

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 39^th Annual Greensboro XC Invitational (5K men, 5K women)
Location: Hagan Stone Park; Greensboro, North Carolina
Top teams, men: 1 – Fayetteville State University (16 pts.), 2 – Methodist (49), 3 – Livingstone College (65)
Top individuals, men: 1 – Nathan Kipyego, Fayetteville State (15:57.54), 2 – Hillary Toroith, Fayetteville State (15:57.55), 3 – Derek Kipchumba, Fayetteville State (15:57.67)
Top teams, women: 1 – Fayetteville State (20 pts.), 2 – Saint Augustine University (52), 3 – Winston-Salem State (70)
Top individuals, women: 1 – Abijah Jepkemboi, Saint Augustine (19:11.60), 2 – Irene Jeptoo, Fayetteville State (19:36.96), 3 – Daisy Jerop, Fayetteville State (19:47.46)

MONARCH NOTES

Senior Will Gray was the highest finisher out of every Methodist runner, in the men's race. He came is seventh overall after crossing the finish line with a time of 17 minutes, 18.12 seconds.
A pack of Monarchs that includes Gabe Sawyer (17:31.84), Rafael Shilengitha (17:33.58), Jackson Barriger (17:33.96), Austin Ezzell (17:51.88), Logan Williams (18:07.29), and Noah Carter (18:11.41) took ninth through 14th place. These six Methodist athletes were all within 40 seconds of each other.
With a time of 19:01.19, Landon Faircloth came in 16^th place to wrap up the Monarch men's race.
On the women's side, rookie runner Makalyn Wilms paced Methodist with a time of 23:03.90, which was good for 18^th overall.
Patti Busch was the next Monarch to finish, in 27^th place, following a time of 25:18.39.
Adriana Blakeney (29:05.37), Imani Kee (30:00.42), Charmaine Robison (31:29.73), and Niya Johnson (33:30.82) were the remaining Methodist runners and finished in 34^th through 37^th overall, respectively.