ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.  Running in their respective USA South Championship races, the Methodist men's and women's cross country teams competed on the campus of North Carolina Wesleyan University on Saturday morning. The Monarchs took third place on the men's side and sixth place in the women's race.
 
Finishing 11th and 14th for the men respectively, Jack Barriger and Rafael Shilengitha earned All–Conference Honorable Mention recognition.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: USA South Championships (6K women, 8K men)
Location: Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Top teams, men: 1 – Pfeiffer (23 pts.), 2 – Southern Virginia (42 pts.), 3 – Methodist (85 pts.)
Top individuals, men: 1 – Kaelen Ruder, Southern Virginia (25:34.1), 2 – Sawyer Helms, Pfeiffer (25:42.3), 3 – Cannon Powell, Pfeiffer (25:53.1)
Top teams, women: 1 – Southern Virginia (29 pts.), 2 – Pfeiffer (54 pts.), 3 – Mary Baldwin (73 pts.)
Top individuals, women: 1 – Nicky Black, Mary Baldwin (23:17.0), 2 – Heidi Barton, Southern Virginia (23:21.4), 3 – Bayleigh Redd, Southern Virginia. (23:29.4)

MONARCH MEN

• Barriger (27:34.6) and Shilengitha (28:09.9) led the way for Methodist, while Logan Williams (28:24.7) trailed not far behind, finishing 19th overall.
• Methodist's final two scorers on the men's side were Jadon Triola (30:31.3) and Austin Ezzell (31:05.9), finishing 28th and 30th.
• Less than a minute behind Ezzell was Landon Faircloth (32:01.0). Following Faircloth were Komla Akogo (38:39.2), Alex Fritz (44:03.6) and Damian Jefferson (44:11.5).

MONARCH WOMEN

• Finishing first among the runners on Methodist women's team, Emma Wilson took 20th place overall with a time of 28:04.3.
• Methodist's four other scorers finished 32nd, 34th, 36th and 37th overall. Treazure Rosario Watson (30:57.8), Sedajah Law (31:21.1), Niya Johnson (32:40.0) and Imani Kee (33:49.2) all crossed the finish line within a three–minute window.
• Alyssa Cervantes (36:37.7) and Patti Busch (38:50.6) were the team's final finishers.

UP NEXT
The next opportunity for the Monarchs to compete will be at the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championship, which will take place in Jackson, Miss. on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m.