ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Emory & Henry Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams competed Saturday morning at the 27th Winthrop/Adidas Cross Country Invitational. The field was the toughest faced by the Wasps so far, as most of the competition was from NCAA Division I and Division II teams. E&H raced against squads such as Appalachian State University, Western Carolina University, Wofford College, Lenoir-Rhyne University and Mars Hill College.

In the men's 8K race, Emory & Henry finished 13th out of 18 teams. The Wasps were led by freshman Alex Cooper (Christiansburg, Va.) who finished 48th with a time of 28:53. Sophomore Nathan Fishell (Richmond, Va.) ran a 29:03 for 51st while freshman Kevin Watts (Stafford, Va.) was 53rd, completing the course in 29:04. Freshman Jackson Feezell (Gastonia, N.C.) and sophomore Will Leigh (Hamilton, Va.) rounded out the top five for E&H.

Blaise Binns from the University of Alabama-Huntsville won the race with a time of 24:56. Emmanuel College took home the team title with four runners in the top seven.

On the women's side, the Wasps notched an 18th place finish out of 19 teams over the 5K course. Pacing E&H was sophomore Leslie Sierra's (Front Royal, Va.) time of 21:54 to finish 48th while sophomore Elizabeth Wilson (Roanoke, Va.) was 55th, running a 22:15. Freshman Audra VanDerwerker (Bedford, Va.), freshman Natalie Foley (Salem, Va.) and sophomore Sara Nichols (Rocky Mount, Va.) were 68th, 69th and 71st for Emory & Henry. The Wasps placed their top six runners ahead of where their top runner finished in the meet a year ago.

Alabama-Huntsville won the meet as a team while the Chargers' Vicky Winslow earned medalist honors, running a 17:53, as she led her team to place four in the top seven.

Emory & Henry will next hear the starting gun on Friday, October 11 at 3:30 p.m., when they travel to Charlotte, N.C.'s McAlpine Park for the Royals Pre-Region Meet hosted by Queens (N.C.) University.

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