PC’s men and women’s cross country teams headed to the Milliken race Friday, September 2 in hopes the day would not begin in a downpour. Luckily, the women only experienced a light rain on the starting line and the men ran in no rain, allowing both teams to race in just dry heat. Both teams raced against Furman, Wofford, and USC Upstate for the chance to place in first.

Similar to golf, each team strives to have the lowest score possible. Scoring is counted by place, so if a team member comes in first, they are rewarded with 1 point. The first five people on the team will be counted towards the total score.

The Presbyterian College women raced a 5k and came in fourth place with 109 points, behind USC Upstate with 89, Wofford with 44,  and Furman with 19. Sally Hart led the team with a time of 20:25, followed by Ripley Fricano at 21:24, averaging 6:34 and 6:53 minutes per mile respectively. Bea DiBona caught up with Denise Devaney and encouraged her to keep the pace, finishing with a 22:01 and behind her Devaney with a 22:20. After not having run for a year, Hydia Green finished well with a 24:44 and Kennedy Brooks was not far behind, finishing with a 25:14.

The men were led by Will Wise and Duncan Gotfredson for the 8k. The team finished fourth with 90 points, just missing USC Upstate with 76. Furman won with 15 points, and Wofford took second with 65 points. Wise finished first for the team with a time of 27:57, averaging 5:37 per mile. Gotfredson wasn’t far behind with a time of 28:16. Neel Taber and Banner Plumb sprinted towards the finish, with Taber  finishing four seconds ahead of Plumb at 28:41. Last, but not least, Alex Johnson came fifth for the team with a time of 32:42. It was a great race for the men, creating personal records for the start of the season.

The cross country teams race again at the Winthrop Invitational on September 16th and all are encouraged to attend.  The men will race first at 9:00 AM followed by the women at 10:00 AM.