September 4, 2010

Spartans finish second at Guilford Cross Country Carnival

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG had three runners finish in the top five as the Spartans finished in second place on Saturday to open their 2010 season at the Guilford College Cross Country Carnival.

Freshman Kenny Hinman paced the men's team as he earned runner-up honors with a time of 15:56. Fellow freshman Tyron Alston also had a nice finish with a time of 16:22 to finish in fourth and Ben Vasquez turned in a fifth-place finish in 16:24.

"This was a good low-key meet for our freshmen to get some college experience and for us to see what kind of shape they are in," said head coach Linh Nguyen of the men's team. "Kenny and Tyron ran really well and both bettered their PR's from high school. I would have liked to have seen better results from our upperclassmen in the race but it's early and we still have a long season ahead."

Taylor Day and Ryan Solomon had seventh and 10th place finishes for UNCG as well.

Michelle Chewens took top individual honors to help lead the women's team to a first place finish.

"The meet today was a chance for some of the women who have been dealing with small injury issues to really just get a workout effort in against some competition," head coach Linh Nguyen said about the women's team. "I was very happy with the way things went overall. There wasn't as much competition as I had hoped but the women did a good job of working together and getting in some quality today."

Chewens completed the five-kilometer course in 19:59, just seven seconds in front of teammate Jade Farlow in the 47-runner field.  Jenna Paley also finished in the top five with a time of 20:39.

Teammates Anna Grimes and Shannon Hall rounded out the Spartans team with a sixth and seventh-place finish, respectively.

The Spartans will return to competition on Sept. 18 at the Elon Invitational.

AGATE

Men's team:
2. Kenny Hinman, 15:56; 4. Tyron Alston, 16:22; 5. Ben Vasquez, 16:24; 7. Taylor Day, 16:43; 10. Ryan Solomon, 16:55; 11. Taylor Hurst, 17:01; 15. Ben Constantinides, 17:21; 19. Ed Matthews, 18:28

Team Scores:
1. Guilford College
2. UNCG

3. Johnson C. Smith
4. Mountain State
5. Randolph College
6. Ferrum
7. Averett

Women's team:
1. Michelle Chewens, 19:59; 2. Jade Farlow, 20:06; 5. Jenna Paley, 20:39; 6. Anna Grimes, 20:40; 7. Shannon Hall, 22:09

Team Scores:
1. UNCG

2. Coker
3. Mountain State
4. Guilford College
5. Johnson C. Smith
6. Averett
7. Randolph College
8. Ferrum

- UNCG -