Cross-country teams finish strong at second meet

By Melina Savage
Staff Writer

Coming off first place finishes at the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, SC, UNCP’s men’s and women’s cross country teams carried on their success.

At Luther Britt Park on Sept. 10, UNCP hosted their first invitational of the year. The women’s field was composed of 10 teams.

Wingate had seven runners finish in the top 13, leading them to a first place finish.

UNCP’s great performance placed them second, with Augusta State taking home third. Teams finishing 4th through 10th were: Pfeiffer, Francis Marion University, Catawba, St. Augustine, St. Andrews, Shaw and Mount Olive, respectively.

Photo by Brandon Barber Members of the women’s cross country team practice at the Belk Athletic Complex.

The best individual performer for the women was Kelly Chaplin of St. Andrews, finishing with a time of 19:10. The top runner for the Lady Braves was junior Katerina Matousova, finishing in fifth place overall with a time of 20:11.

As for the men, they took on seven teams and finished strong, taking third place at the invitational. With three runners finishing in the top six, St. Andrews took first place, while Wingate took second.

Finishing 4th through 8th were: St. Augustine, Pfeiffer, Francis Marion, Shaw University and Mount Olive, respectively.

The best time overall in the 8k was 25:34 from Issrael Jaimes of St. Augustine. With a seventh place finish overall, UNCP’s best time was 26:45 from junior Giovanni Bilotta.

Bilotta was also named the Peach Belt Conference runner of the week. At the Gamecock Invitational, Bilotta recorded a time of 26:24 in combination with his team-leading performance at the UNCP Invitational. He is the first Brave to be named PBC player of the week in any sport this year.

Head coach Larry Rodgers has been very pleased with the way his teams have started this season.