KERNERSVILLE, N.C. – Four Quaker men posted career-bests en route to a fifth-place team finish while both women's runners ranked within the top-20 individually for the Guilford College men's and women's cross country teams as they competed at the Spartan Classic, hosted by UNC Greensboro at the Ivey M. Redmon Athletic Complex on Friday evening.
Facing competition spanning all-three NCAA divisions, plus a couple junior colleges, the Quakers faced their most-competitive opposition this season to date and had some positives. With only two runners, the women did not post a team score as the hosting Spartans boasted the top-seven finishers to post the lowest possible score of 15, ahead of fellow local Division-I foe, North Carolina A&T, Division-II Newberry College, and finally Division-III Salem College. The top of the men's standings looked the same with UNCG flexing the top-seven finishers to top NCA&T. Division-II Livingstone College and Cleveland Community College followed up ahead of the Quakers.
Compared to runners of equal division,
Kateria Peters (Wilmington, N.C.) and
Piper Campbell (Wilmington, N.C.) continued their strong opens to the season in the opening race, the women's 5K. Peters finished less than half a minute behind the top Division-III finisher to place second among DIII runners and 13
th overall out of the 39-woman field with a time of 21:51.60. Campbell was not far behind as the third DIII finisher and 19
th overall with a mark of 22:48.80.
Yassine Aallam (Holly Springs, N.C.) topped Quaker finishers in the men's 8K race, that featured 46 competitors, recording his season-best 8K time of 32:26.70, good for a 29
th place finish and he had company, as
Tynarie Mckinney (Charlotte, N.C.) closed the gap to finish just a single second behind, taking 30
th with a 32:27.70 time that stands as his PR. The next Quaker would be
Landis Brown (Lexington, N.C.) who also notched a PR, taking 39
th with a 39:02.20 mark.
Jeremiah Coley (Upper Marlboro, Md.) was a couple spots behind, taking 41
st with a time of 40:04.70.
Oscar Brock (New Orleans, La.) and
Brennan Branch (Charlotte, N.C.) completed Guilford competitors, each recording personal bests with Brock taking 44
th place with a 42:19.30 time and Branch recording a 49:23.90 time to claim 46
th.
Guilford heads to Livingstone a week from today to run in the Livingstone XC Challenge on Friday, October 9. Start time is TBA in Salisbury, N.C.
#GoQuakes
