GREENVILLE, N.C. - On Friday the NC Wesleyan Cross Country teams traveled to Lake Kristie, located in Grimsley, NC, to run in a Division 1 race hosted by East Carolina.  The race was highlighted by ACC teams such as Duke and N.C. State as well as other top teams like Coastal Carolina, Richmond, ECU, and Elon.  N.C. Wesleyan was one of two D3 cross country teams invited to participate in an invitation only race. 

"The race conditions were perfect as the temperature was 65 degrees and clear skies.  Having an outdoor sport, this was a perfect conditions to run long distance races." said Marshall Leonard. 

The women ran first and they kicked the day off with great performances by runners in the women's race.  Freshman Cedara Franklin ran a personal best and bested her own school record by 1 minute and 10 seconds with a time of 26:34 and finished in 112th place.  She was followed by her fellow freshmen, who both ran personal best times, Snejana Spinache (28:02) in 118th and Teanna Bellamy in 120th with a personal best of (28:21).  These women kept up with some talented D1 runners and walked away with beating over 20 of the 140 D1 runners.

"We did great, but we still have a lot of room for improvement. We are a young team that have constantly gotten better every race" said Leonard. "As a coach, we want to see them race better every week, and we are seeing that. At NCWC we have athletes that want to be hall of fame athletes, and they practice every day to get there. Our future is bright and I am proud to be part of something so great."

Wesleyan will next be competing when they return home to host the USA South Championship here in Rocky Mount on Nov. 2 from their on-campus trail. The meet begins at 11 am for the women and Noon for the men.