SMC XC Teams Run Strong at Winthrop

ROCK HILL, SC – The SMC Cross Country posted strong results Saturday in the Garnett division of the ASICS/Winthrop Cross Country Invitational at Winthrop University.

Hannah Chaney (Brunswick HS, Ohio) won the Garnett Division with a time of 19:28.56 and paced the Pioneers to a second place team finish in the women's 5K race.

Hannah Quniley (Riverside HS) placed 12th, Anamalia Garcia (Pelion HS) 14th, Nikki Kaiser (Blue Ridge HS) 15th, Abby Wells (Crestwood HS) 19th, and Hannah Thompson (Scottsboro, AL) 20th,  in the Garnett Division.

In the men's 8K race, Chris DeHondt (Pendleton HS) place 11th ,27:09.72, to lead the Pioneers to a 4th place tie with Belmont Abbey.

Ryan Beckley (Fort Dorchester HS) place 24th, Justin Blackwell (Chesnee HS) 26th, Dylan Blackwell (Byrnes HS) 30th and Ben Grant (Georgetown HS) 31st, in the Garnett Division.

The race field was separated into the Gold Division (NCAA I) and Garnet Division (NCAA II). The South Carolina Cross Country Intercollegiate Championships included the combined results of both divisions.

Chaney finished 16th  in the combined championships, with the Lady Pioneers placing seventh. DeHondt finished 20th with the men's team coming in sixth.

The Pioneers' next meet will be Oct. 1 in Charlotte, NC at the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational.

Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia.

The College is in its 100th academic year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment this August. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, contact athletic director Mark Perdue at perduem@smcsc.edu or (864) 587-4237.