NEWBERRY, SC – The UVA Wise cross country teams both had successful outings in the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Championship meet, held this morning at The Farm in Newberry, South Carolina. Both teams place ninth in the thirteen team event, and several individuals had career bests.
In addition, women's harrier
Lydia Slemp also was named the SAC Elite 23 winner, which honors the student-athlete from any school with the highest GPA at their sport's championship. She is the first female athlete at UVA Wise to earn this honor, following men's cross country's Chase Templeton, who earned it in 2022.
In the women's 6K race,
Alexsis Porter placed 36
th with a personal best 23:43.94, while Slemp ran a 25:42.63 to finish 61
st.
Destyne Rutherford was 64
th with a 25:52.61 and Shaylen Cannon's 26:11.35 time placed her at 68
th, both were personal bests as this was their first collegiate 6K meet.
Jayden Sisk was 71
st with her time of 27:07.40, and
Nina Erickson had a new PR with 28:11.35 to finish 83
rd.
Kaylen Fields finished 89
th with a time of 29:09.40; while
Nicole Poston (30:55.92) and
Alissa Green (31:23.39) finished 91
st and 92
nd, respectively. Amelia Hamilton (94
th) ran 31:51.96. All were new personal bests.
As a team they finished ninth with a combined time of 2:08.37 for 254 points.
The men had a ninth place team finish with 245 points and a combined time of 2:21.53 in the 8K race.
Jonah Adams was 28
th with a time of 25:46.86, while
Dorian Almer's personal best time of 27:34.73 placed him in 47
th.
Chad Douglas (62
nd) ran 28:28.83, and
Jerry Hamilton (75
th) had a time of 29:40.40.
Matthew Rhoton had a time of 30:22.75 to finish 80
th, while
Bennett Brunner's time of 30:51.68 placed him in 85
th. Solomon Muwanguzi finished in 94
th place with 32:18.32
Next up for the cross country teams is the NCAA Southeast Regional, which will be held Nov. 9 at Milliken Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
