PRs for Spartanburg Methodist College Women's Cross Country at Inaugural Brevard XC Classic

BREVARD, N.C. – Led by five personal best performances from its seven entrants, the Spartanburg Methodist College women's cross country team finished fifth at the Inaugural Brevard XC Classic.

The Milligan women, who are ranked No. 2 in the NAIA preseason poll, had the first nine finishers on their way to the team title. Ellen-Mary Kearney of Milligan was the individual winner, covering the 5k course in 17:44.4.

The Pioneers were paced by a PR by Sophia Outhous, who crossed the line in a PR of 19:42.8 for a two-second improvement on her way to a 10th-place finish. The performance by Outhous is the 10th fastest time in program hisory.

Next across the finish line was Averi Vance, who also set a PR by 15 seconds, in a time of 22:40.5 for 22^nd place honors. 

The third runner for SMC was Bella Shields, who clocked a time of 23:04.7 for 27^th place. Fourth runner for the Pioneers was Polly Addington, who posted a 36-second improvement with a time of 24:03.6 to finish 29^th and the fifth runner for SMC was Nsimire Bahongwehre, who finished in 26:55 to finish 33^rd. Also, for the Pioneers, Anna Altman was 36^th (28:25.2) and Victoria Freeman was 38^th (36:51.3). Head Coach Peyton Shelton noted the huge progressions made in the improvement by Addington and Bahongwehre amd that Addington is running a minute faster than she did last year. She will be a key to the success of the program for the remainder of the season.