ELON, N.C. – Competing under the Elon University lights, the Guilford College men's and women's cross country teams hit the course for the first time on the new season on Friday evening. The women's squad took ninth in the event with the men's team not qualifying for a team placing.
The ten-team field at the event included schools from all three NCAA divisions, with just one other Division-III school competing in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival Averett.
The Quakers women's team did finish ninth out of the nine teams to register a team score, however it still stands a step in the right direction as this event marks the first time the GC women's team has factored into an meet's standings since 2019. The men's team nearly matched that feat with a quartet of runners competing.
Making her collegiate debut,
Piper Campbell (Wilmington, N.C.) completed the 4K women's race with a time of 17:39.7, good for 63
rd overall as Guilford's top finisher. Also, in her first competition at the college level,
Natalie Viera (Winston-Salem, N.C.) was less than a minute and just a few places behind posting an 18:24.3 mark to finish 67
th. A third GC freshman took 74
th with
Bess Parnell (Cairo, Egypt) posting a 19:40.9 time. Right behind here were the final two scorers for Guilford with
Josephine Hemmer (Greenbay, Va.) and
Lainey Crafton (Summerville, S.C.) slotting in 75
th and 76
th with 20:22.5 and 21:03.6 times respectively.
Lilah Ell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) was the final Quaker to cross the finish line at 28:00.5.
In the men's competition, it was the fifth of six GC runners between the teams to be making their college XC debut, and the fourth freshman, in
Jeremy Harway (Apex, N.C.) who was the top Quaker finisher. He posted a 25:32.8 time on the 6K men's course to finish 72
nd. Returner
Trent Torain (Durham, N.C.) followed in 80
th with a time of 28:15.5 with fellow incumbent member,
J.C. Yanez (Thomasville, N.C.), two spots behind with a 28:53.2 mark.
Jerome Moore (Mount Olive, N.C.), making his collegiate cross country debut, rounded out GC runners with a 33:00.5 time to finish 83
rd.
Cross country will return to the course next two weeks from Saturday, on September 21
st, to compete at the Yeti Invitational hosted by Cleveland Community College in Shelby, N.C. Start time and meet details have yet to be released.
#GoQuakes
