DI Men's Team Results | DII Men's Team Results
DI Women's Team Results | DII Women's Team Results
Overall Men's Individual Results | Overall Women's Indiviual Results
Spartanburg, S.C. – On a picturesque evening in Spartanburg, USC Upstate's Ross Oden was the man to beat as the senior won the men's 8k at the college portion of the Eye Opener meet Friday evening at the Milliken Research Park. Oden's performance led Upstate to the team title in the Division I section of the meet.
Oden (Salisbury, N.C.) crossed the finish line with a time of 26:16.67 to take the overall title combining both the Division I and Division II sections.
"Ross had a solid run by setting the pace early and taking the win," said Carson Blackwelder, associate head coach at Upstate. "Our top-5 did a great job of working together. The weather was perfect for racing and it showed with good performances."
Oden's performance helped lead an Upstate unit that posted the top seven times in the Division I section of the meet with five runners counting toward the team score. The Spartans won with 15 points over Presbyterian (55) and Wofford (75). Theodore Kountourogiannis (Niagara Falls, Ontario) was the second Spartan to cross the line, turning in a time of 26:40.33, shaving more than 1:30 off his time at the Covered Bridge Open last week.
Alex Love (Pasadena, Md.) also posted his lowest time by 43 seconds and came in third for the Spartans with a time of 26:54.54. Riley Doherty (Tallahassee, Fla.) was the fourth Spartan to cross the line under 27 minutes, posting a season-best time of 26:55.15. Andrew Kipchumba (Eldoret, Kenya), who missed last week's race with a minor injury, came in fifth for Upstate with a time of 27:04.87.
King placed five runners in the Top 10 of the non-Division I section of the Eye Opener to win the male portion of the event with 36 points. Mars Hill was second with 53 points and was followed by SMC (56), Wingate (129), Limestone (145), Belmont Abbey (163), Anderson (187), Brevard (192), Lenoir-Rhyne (229), Southern Wesleyan (267), Piedmont (334) and Wake Tech (358). Kings' Spencer Frantom was the highest non-Division I runner in the field with a time of 26:30.14.
On the women's side, Upstate placed three runners in the Top 10 in the Division I section and finished second with 40 points. Davidson won the event with 21 points, while Presbyterian was third with 84.
Jasmine Polite (Goose Creek, S.C.) led the way for Upstate with a third-place finish in the Division I section and with the fifth-best time overall, posting a season-best effort of 19:11.96 in the 5k. Anastasia Kolesnitchecnko (Boiling Springs, S.C.) was the second best Spartan finisher, coming in with a season-best time of 19:17.38 to finish fourth among Division I runners. Erin Gethin (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) was the third Spartan finisher in the Top 10 with a season-best time of 19:51.64.
Hannah Chaney (Brunswick, Ohio) turned in a season-best 5k of 20:00.57 as the fourth Upstate runner to cross the line, while Molly Bliss (Milford, Del.) rounded out the five countable scores with a time of 20:11.49, shaving 2:09 off her time last week.
"In both the men and women's races we saw some big improvements from last week," said Blackwelder. "The women are in much better shape than last year and I'm excited to see where we can go from here."
Wingate placed four runners in the top six among the non-Division I schools to win the female portion of the event with 28 points. King was second at 108 and was followed by Mars Hill (127), Lenoir-Rhyne (129), Anderson (131), Brevard (136), Belmont Abbey (178), SMC (182), Southern Wesleyan (207), Piedmont (209), Converse (222) and Limestone (348). King's Hannah Wilt turned in a time of 18:24.79 to finish with the best female time.
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