Men's Team Claims Fourth Top-Five of the Season; Elise Wilcher Runs Personal Record as Cross Country Finishes a Successful Upstate Invitational

Saturday, October 16

Spartanburg, S.C.

9 a.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

Upstate Invite

Photo by: Matt Levonick

10/16/2021 12:35:00 PM | Cross Country

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Competing on its home course for the second and final time during the 2021 season, USC Upstate cross country's men's and women's teams both wrapped the Upstate Invitational with top-10 team finishes.

Bringing home a fourth-place finish, the men's program secured its fourth consecutive top-five finish of the year, finishing top-five in all four of the team's meets in 2021. Behind the strength of six runners placing in the top quarter of the 163-runner field, Upstate held the tiebreaker over Western Carolina for the fourth spot on the team leaderboard.

Six Spartans finished in the top-40 in the event with three finishing inside the top-30. Senior Jonathan Johnson paced the group with an 18^th-place finish while senior Michael Tardella and freshman Logan Patete joined him in the top-30, placing 25^th and 26^th, respectively.

Men's Results (4^th of 17)
18. Jonathan Johnson – 26:45.1
25. Michael Tardella – 27:03.9
26. Logan Patete – 27:05.2
31. Jonathan Loy – 27:17.9
32. Jared Keklak – 27:19.6
40. Nigel Dos Santos – 27:32.2
53. Carter Sexton – 28:05.7
61. Caleb Bayne – 28:19.4
71. Derek Staton – 28:35.9
82. Gabe Herron – 28:51.5

Leading her team to a top-10 finish—the team's third of the season—sophomore Elise Wilcher posted a personal-record time as she topped the Spartan lineup, placing 41^st. Her PR of 20:21.5 at the Upstate Invite comes as she's improved her 5K time from one event to the next through each of the first four races of her collegiate career.

Finishing just behind Wilcher on the leaderboard, freshman Allison Baker placed 42^nd to finish among the top Upstate runners for the fourth straight event as she and Wilcher finished among the top Spartans for the second consecutive outing.

Women's Results (10^th of 17)
41. Elise Wilcher – 20:21.5
42. Allison Baker – 20:21.9
71. Alanie Foster – 21:09.3
72. Heaven Allen – 21:09.8
82. Laura Yarborough – 21:39.9
83. Brawnwyn Koellner – 21:44.0

Surrounding the Upstate Invite, numerous Spartan alumni returned for a weekend of festivities with some lacing up their shoes and putting together a strong showing on the course.

UP Next for the Spartans
With the conclusion of the Upstate Invite, the Spartans turn their attention to the Big South Conference Championships in two weeks. The conference meet takes place at High Point on October 29.

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