Cross Country Prepares for Conference Championships

Friday, October 29

Kernersville, N.C.

2:00 PM

Gardner-Webb University

Big South Conference

Photo by: © Tim Cowie | GWUPhotos.com

October 28, 2021 | Cross Country

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb Cross Country will conclude its regular season tomorrow, November 29, at the Big South Cross-Country Championship in Kernersville, N.C. The Runnin' Bulldogs have competed in four meets this season, at Elon (9/3), at Winthrop (9/18), at Queens (10/8), and at USC Upstate (10/16).

The men's team has been led by freshman Ryan Morita and graduate student Patrick Sastre, being the top two finishers for the 'Dogs at every meet. Each runner set their new personal bests at the Royals Cross Country Challenge on October 8. Morita finished this meet with a 26:34, earning Big South Runner of the Week. Also, Morita's time became the 12^th fastest in school history. Sastre came across the line at 27:37 to drop his 8K PR for the first time in three seasons.

Joe Waller and Ethan Bentley have been unable to race in every meet this season but have cemented themselves as the #3 and #4 runners on the team. Bentley and Waller each set new personal bests at the Queens meet as well. Bentley had a 28:33, and Waller a 28:35. Matthew Cloninger has finisher in the team's top 5 at every meet this season. Cloninger's season-best came at the Royals XC Challenge as well, running a 29:48.

Anchoring the team will be Mark Mellon, Garry Ankrom, and Cole Ray. Ankrom ran his first meet of the season at Winthrop and ran over five and a half minutes faster at the following meet for a 32:01. Mellon set his personal best of the season at Queens with a 33:27. Mellon and Ankrom have made significant contributions to the team's performance this season despite their true freshmen status. Between these two runners, one has been among the first five across the finish for GWU in all but one race this fall. Cole Ray had his season-best come at USC Upstate and finished the 8K in 38:24.

The women's team has had a very successful spring that included the team finishing 5^th at the Winthrop Invitational in September. Amy Prugh has been the top finisher for Gardner-Webb in all four meets this season. Prugh had her best career race at Queens when she crossed the finish at Queens with a 19:01. This time led to her breaking into the school's top 10 all-time fastest 5Ks. Also, Prugh broke the 20-minute barrier at USC Upstate by finishing 31^st and running a 19:57. Hannah Mitchell has finished second at every meet this season for the 'Dogs. Mitchell's PB of 19:38 at Queens became the 17^th fastest in school history.

Gardner-Webb has had six different runners fill out the last three spots on the team's top five at the four meets this season. Faith Parandhamaia ran a 16:16 at the Elon Opener and 22:00 at the Winthrop Invitational. Jennifer Escalera's best time of the year came at Queens with a time of 20:50. Taylor Robinson ran her best meet at Queens also by having a 19:59, a new personal best. Robinson was the team's third finisher at the Winthrop and Queens meets. Camille Sykes has also been a top runner for the 'Dogs having her best meet at 21:05.

Two of the true freshmen have been top 5 finishers for the team this year. Teryn Bour was fourth at the lone meet she competed in, the Royals XC Challenge, having a personal best time of 20:44. Chloe McDaniel had a fifth-place finish at the USC Upstate meet and has competed in all four races this fall. Her best race of the season was at Queens where she ran a 21:15.

Ashley Eavenson ran in the first two meets of the season. At the Elon Opener 4K, Eavenson ran a 17:02 and followed that with a 23:46 at Winthrop. Brooklyn Tretter has raced in all four meets in the regular season. Her fastest time came at the Queens meet with a 22:15.

The Big South Conference Cross Country Championship will have the men's race start at 2:00 p.m. with the women's starting at 3:00 p.m. The award ceremony will begin after the women's race with the ceremony approximately starting at 4:00 p.m.