PBC Women's Cross Country Recap - Oct. 11

North Georgia turned in their best finish of the year as they came in second at the Erskine Invitational. Four PBC team competed in the event with Lander coming in fifth, UNC Pembroke seventh and USC Aiken 11th in the 16-team field.

In the women’s 5k race, Wingate University finished first with 86 points and they were followed closely by the Lady Saints with 90 points. WSSU finished third with 99, Erskine was fourth with 138 and Lander finished fifth with 144 total points.

The pace was set by WSSU's Irene Jeptolo who finished with a time of 19:12, almost one minute faster than second place Amber Hines of Wingate, who finished with a time of 20:15.

Emmy Lawalin led North Georgia, finishing third - her highest finish of her career - with a time of 20:51. She was followed by Tiffany Rives - her highest finish of her career - in 13th place with a time 21:51, Bea Nelligan finished in 20th place with a time of 22:29 and Savannah Bryce with a time of 23:16 in 32nd place.

Clare Madrid finished in 35th place with a time of 23:41, while Loren Blake rounded out the Lady Saints with a time of 24:44 in 50th place.

Lander’s Olga Nunez-Lopez placed fourth of 98 runners to lead the Lander women’s cross country team to a fifth place finish in the 16-team Erskine Invitational.

Nunez-Lopez finished the hilly, 3.1-mile race in 20 minutes, 55 seconds, while Lander teammates Cassie Rowland finished ninth in 21:35, and Anna Lohmann was 15th in 21:57. Heather Hodges and Bryony Crouch finished 57th and 59th respectively for the Bearcats.

UNC Pembroke’s Tierra McIntosh finished fifth with a time of 21:14 while her teammate Ivy Ramsey was seventh in 21:32. Renea Marshall was the high finisher for USC Aiken, coming in 46th in a time of 24:40.

All four teams will make their next appearance at the PBC Championships Oct. 20.