SALEM, Va. The Methodist men's and women's cross country teams competed on Saturday morning at the Roanoke XC Invitational, held at Green Hill Park. The meet also served as the South Region Preview, drawing some of the toughest competition the Monarchs have faced all season.
THE ESSENTIALS
Event: Roanoke XC Invitational – South Region Preview (6k women, 8k men)
Location: Green Hill Park; Salem, Virginia
Top teams, men: 1 – East Tennessee State University (34 pts.), 2 – Pfeiffer University (65 pts.), 3 – Washington and Lee University (100 pts.)
Top individuals, men: 1 – Jason Bowers (23:19.2), ETSU, 2 – Jack Cotrell (24:08.2), Unattached, 3 – Sean Morello (24:28.3), Duke
Top teams, women: 1 – ESTU (31 pts.), 2 – Ohio Northern University (65 pts.), 3 – WLU (84 pts.)
Top individuals, women: 1 – Adelyn Fairley (21:02.2), Unattached, 2 – Thais Rolly (21:05.3), Unattached, 3 – Sophie Beach (21:52.0), ETSU
MONARCH NOTES
- In the men's 8k race, freshman Chance McCubbin led the way for Methodist with a time of 28:39.9, finishing 121st overall. Senior Rafael Shilengitha was close behind, crossing in 29:00.0 for 140th place.
- Freshman Keon Lassiter was next to finish, placing 199th with a time of 32:01.2, followed by sophomores Vondre Nelson (35:22.6, 223rd) and Xavier Wilborn (41:00.2, 236th) rounding out the Monarch lineup.
- On the women's side, several Monarchs competed in their first collegiate 6k. Freshman Leilani Rankin paced the group with a 28:06.6, finishing 145th. Fellow freshman Savanna Alvarado followed in 157th place after posting a 28:56.4.
- Rounding out the women's results, freshman Yamile Lopez Dominguez ran 29:35.2 (162nd), while freshmen Mally King (32:32.0, 181st) and Abigail Rowe (32:58.7, 182nd) finished back-to-back to close out the team effort.
UP NEXT
The Monarchs will now have two weeks to prepare for the 2025 USA South Cross Country Championships, set for Saturday, November 1, on Pfeiffer University's campus. The first race is scheduled to begin at 10 AM.
