SMC Men run to a 13th place finish behind Austin Steagall

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Over 40 teams and nearly 1,000 runners competed at the fourth annual Charlotte Cross Country Invitational on Friday afternoon at McAlpine Park. Led by Austin Steagall's time of 25:58.74 and Brett Morley's 26:29.91 the 5th ranked SMC Pioneers placed 13th out of 34 very strong teams. 

Zach Edwards of Liberty was the men's individual champion, coming in at 24:08.65 to help his squad to a second place team finish. Virginia Tech was the men's team champion with only 35 points

Virginia Tech was the team champion on the women's side with 84 points, while Furman was the runner-up with 127. Charlotte (152) finished just three points shy of third-place team Wake Forest (149), the third place team. Spartanburg Methodist was the only junior college team to run and had a average time of 26:38.09. Virginia Tech had a average time of 24:35.74. SMC defeated the following four year schools. Mars Hill, Elon, Milligan, Anderson, Guilford, Columbus St. Erskine, USC-B, Limestone, Newberry, PC, Wofford and others.

Abby Wells was SMC's highest finishing women runner with a time of 22:04.40. She placed in 68th place