Sept. 30, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The South Carolina cross country team competed for the third straight week on Friday afternoon, running against 36 teams in the Charlotte Invitational (5K) Gold Race at McAlpine Park. The Gamecocks finished the day with 225 points to claim seventh place.
Virginia Tech won the meet with 84 points, followed by Furman (127), Wake Forest (149), Charlotte (152), Elon (163) and Belmont (172).
Heading into the meet, South Carolina head coach Stan Rosenthal challenged his squad to get off to a stronger start than it did the week before in the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational. The Gamecocks managed to do that, but Rosenthal believes his squad still has room to improve.
“We got out better but not as good as we needed to,” Rosenthal said. “We competed better than we did at Minnesota. We still have to improve to do well at the SEC Championships.”
Senior Beatrice Biwott battled a hip injury but still managed to finish 39th with a time of 18:19.2 to lead South Carolina. Senior Nicole Rheinlander ran a PR of 18:25.5 to cross the finish line in 50th place, followed by senior Sara Hartley in 52nd place with a PR of 18:28.9.
Sophomore Liz Locke finished 59th with a time of 18:34.2, while freshman Meredith Mill recorded a PR of 18:42.4 to wrap up the meet in 71st place. Sophomore Penny Boswell was the next highest finisher in 84th place with a time of 18:54.7, followed by sophomore Scola Jepngetich (19:23.1, 111th).
USC Upstate’s Joan Tangwar won the meet with a time of 16:53.7, finishing 1.2 seconds ahead of Wake Forest’s Nicole Irving (16:54.9).
The South Carolina `B’ team ran in the 5K Green Race. Senior Erin Fedewa was the top Gamecock with a sixth-place showing as she recorded a time of 19:28. Freshman Ginsie Britton placed seventh with a PR of 19:33.1, while freshmen Sarah Pellegrini (19:36.6) and Bryttin Boyde (19:37.6 PR) finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Freshman Maggie Henderson (19:39.5 PR, 12th), Sophomore Liz Wilner (19:48.7, 17th), junior Ellyn Quigg (19:51.7, 19th), junior Megan Rother (19:53.5, 20th), freshman Jessica Muse (20:05.8, 25th), sophomore Rachel Grochowski (20:10.7, 27th), freshman Kelsey Rudeck (20:17.8, 30th) and freshman Kristina Cribb (20:31.3, 38th) also competed for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 8, with the `B’ team running in the Gene Mullin Furman Invitational (5K) in Greenville, S.C. at 9 a.m.
