Davis sets a Personal Record, Johnson Records a Top-10 Finish in the Eye Opener

Saturday, September 14

Spartanburg, S.C.

7:00 a.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

Eye Opener

9/14/2019 12:01:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Men's Cross Country

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The USC Upstate cross country teams had a pair of top-three finishes on Saturday morning at the annual Eye Opener Invitational Event held at the Milliken Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

The USC Upstate women's team finished in third place with a total time of 1:43:15, the Spartans acquired 85 total points in the race and finished ahead of both North Greenville and Walters State Community College (Tennessee).

Mia Davis (Fort Mill, S.C.) clocked in a new personal 5 kilometer time at 19:37.0, Davis ended up being the pace setter for the women's team for the second consecutive meet. The junior placed 15^th overall in the event and was closely followed by several of her teammates. USC Upstate runners Jamie Connelly and Krysta Pierstorff ran unattached from the team but came in 16^th and 17^th place respectively.

"It gives me hope to get faster every race, I have never finished top-15 in a collegiate race and it feels pretty good," Davis said. "Going forward I think that this is going to give our team confidence going into conference."

For the second consecutive race Laura Yarborough came in second place on the team with an 18^th place finish. This Yarborough's first top-20 finish of her collegiate career and she finished with a total time of 20:19.4.

Alanie Foster and Alicia Chavez came in 24^th and 25^th place respectively. Stecy Cherono and Joey Palmquist crossed the finished line just seconds afterwards in 26^th and 28^th place. The Spartans had six athletes finish inside the top-30 on Saturday morning.

The Furman women's team took every position in the top-10. Gabrielle Jennings won the overall event with a time of 17:10.7. Wofford finished second in the team event with 52 total points and had four runners finish in the top-15 of the event.

The USC Upstate men's cross country team had a runner-up finish in the Eye Opener Invitational on Saturday morning. The Spartans had 59 total points and recorded a total time of 2:17:52. USC Upstate finished ahead of Wofford, North Greenville, Limestone, Walters State CC (Tennessee) and USC Aiken. The Furman men's team took home first place with nine runners finishing inside the top-10.

Sophomore runner Jonathan Johnson (New Bern, N.C.) recorded his first top-10 finish of his career with a 10^th place finish on Saturday morning. The Tar Heel State native finished the 8 kilometer course in a time of 26:37.8.

"It's a good feeling," Johnson said. "I have never had a top-10 finish before, it was good to compete against some top competition to see where we stack up."

Five USC Upstate runners crossed the finish line moments later to give the Spartans six runners inside the top-25 and seven runners inside the top-30. Michael Tardella recorded a 17^th place finish with a time of 27:34.7, Logan Miller registered a 19^th place finish and Jacob Coccia (Rock Hill, S.C.) rounded out the top-20 for the Spartans.

Women's Team Final

Place	School	Total Time	Points
1^st	Furman	1:28:54	15
2^nd	Wofford	1:37:43	52
3^rd	USC Upstate	1:43:15	85
4^th	North Greenville	1:45:14	95
5^th	Walters State CC	2:04:48	152

Women's Individual Results

Place	Name	Time
15^th	Mia Davis	19:37.0
16^th	Jamie Connelly	19:56.3
17^th	Krysta Pierstorff	19:59.1
18^th	Laura Yarborough	20:19.4
24^th	Alanie Foster	21:00.5
25^th	Alicia Chavez	21:04.3
26^th	Stecy Cherono	21:13.6
28^th	Joey Palmquist	21:30.6
32^nd	Kristen Owens	22:15.8
34^th	Brawnwyn Koellner	22:20.3
40^th	Ting O'Regan	23:17.9

Men's Team Final

Place	School	Total Time	Points
1^st	Furman	2:05:52	15
2^nd	USC Upstate	2:17:52	58
3^rd	Wofford	2:21:47	86
4^th	North Greenville	2:24:25	96
5^th	Walters State CC	2:41:11	160
6^th	USC Aiken	2:46:54	176

Men's Individual Results

Place	Name	Time
10^th	Jonathan Johnson	26:37.8
18^th	Michael Tardella	27:34.7
20^th	Logan Miller	27:40.2
21^st	Jacob Coccia	27:55.8
23^rd	Jared Coccia	28:03.6
24^th	Dorian Jones	28:06.7
26^th	Jay Roberts	28:17.5
32^nd	Jalin Petty	29:04.7
35^th	Jonathan Loy	29:16.4
36^th	Jared Keklak	29:31.7
50^th	Jeremy Gomez	31:17.7

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