Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb's men's and women's cross
country teams ran among a packed field Friday afternoon at the
Charlotte Cross Country Invitational, with 33 women's teams as well
as 30 men's teams competing in the event.
The women ran the 6K race, while the men participated in the 8K
event.
The Runnin' Bulldog women were led by Elisabeth Sawyer
(Charlotte, N.C.), who kept up a stellar senior campaign by leading
the GWU charge with a time of 23:55.50. Sawyer has recorded the
fastest time for the GWU women in each meet of the 2012 season.
Fellow senior Megan Frost (Crofton, Md.) finished with GWU's
second fastest 6K time of the day at 25:48.88, followed closely by
senior Leah Steinke's (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) time of
25:51.95.
Junior Katie Spiro (Sylva, N.C.) and senior Ivana Hughes (Evans,
Ga.) wrapped up Gardner-Webb's top five in the women's 6K race, as
the pair of Runnin' Bulldog performers clocked in at 26:34.14 and
27:13.36 respectively.
The Gardner-Webb women took 24th place on Friday, edging out Big
South nemeses Radford (25th) and Presbyterian (32nd).
On the men's side, junior Mike McClay (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
continued a strong campaign for the Runnin' Bulldogs this season,
finishing with a season best time at 26:33.42. McClay's performance
marked the fourth consecutive meet this season in which the junior
has put up the fastest GWU time.
Senior Josiah Stanton-Brooks (Seattle, Wash.) was second fastest
for the Runnin' Bulldogs, recording a time of 28:04.11. Junior Trey
Crook (Lexington, N.C.) continued his strong season, coming in with
the third fastest GWU time of the day in a personal best time of
28:08.17.
Junior Justin Loy (Burrington, N.H.) crossed the line at
28:45.12, and sophomore Nick Rogers (Monroe, Ga.) cracked into
GWU's top five finishers with a personal best time of 30:40.22.
The Gardner-Webb men took 29th place in the event, beating out
conference rival Presbyterian by 225 points.
GWU cross country will be back on the course Saturday, October 6
for the Furman Invitational in Greenville, S.C. with the race
scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
