ELON, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the season with the "Friday Night Lights" Elon Opener, where the men placed third out of 11 teams and the women took home fifth out of 10 teams.
MEN'S TEAM
On the men's side, Duke University earned the team title with 20 points, while East Carolina followed in second with 75 points, and UNCG rounded out the top three with 84 points.
Senior
Dylan Christopher, who earned All-SoCon second team honors last year, paced the Spartans with his time of 18:32.8 finishing 11
th out of 102 competitors. Classmate
Thomas Knepshield was the second Blue and Gold across the finish line with a time of 18:49.1 taking home 17
th place.
Senior
Joe Thoma, junior
Michael Zapherson, and senior
Colin Alexander rounded out the top five Spartans. Thoma placed in 20
th with a time of 18:51.1, Zapherson finished the six-kilometer race in 19:02.8, good for 25
th, and Alexander finished 33
rd with a time of 19:20.5.
Freshmen
Colin Keck,
Ethan Long,
Mason Rudel, and
Spencer Connick represented the Spartans in their first collegiate race.
WOMEN'S TEAM
UNCG totaled 135 points taking home a fifth-place mark, as Duke finished with 22 points for the title. Elon was second as a team with 37 points and East Carolina rounded out the top three with 73 points.
Graduate student,
Ariana Garcia led the Spartans with her 15
th-place mark out of 95 competitors and a time of 14:23.0. In the four-kilometer race, sophomore
Jenna Reiter earned a top-20 finish with a time of 14:33.7 taking home 19
th.
Seniors
Jillian Felton and
Chandler McCaslin were the next Blue and Gold across the finish line, placing 35
th and 36
th, respectively. Felton clocked in a time of 15:07.3 and McCaslin ran the course in 15:09.2.
Freshmen
Camille Carlson,
Bella Manfre,
Laila Burk, and
Annika Stoakes all toed the line for their first collegiate race.
THOUGHTS FROM THE COACH, KALEIGH ROACH
"Overall it was an exciting atmosphere, a great opportunity to kick start the season and get back into the rhythm of racing."
UP NEXT
The Spartans take a week off to train for the Adidas Cross Country Challenge that is scheduled for Friday, September 17 in Cary, N.C.
