Results

WILMINGTON, N.C. (Sept. 9) – Sophomore Aman Tsegay claimed the individual title on Friday night, as the Trojans placed second in the team standings at the season-opening UNCW Beach Blast.

The University of Mount Olive men's cross country team finished with 59 points after featuring four of the top-15 individual finishers. The hosted UNC Wilmington claimed the title by tallying 27 points at the four-team event behind five of the top-10 runners in the field.

Tsegay crossed the finish line with a time of 15 minutes, 27.50 seconds to earn his first career victory. He won the race by over nine seconds under the lights while registering an average mile pace of 4:58.5 over the five-kilometer course.

Fellow sophomore Nathanael Bierly placed 12th overall with a time of 16:25.36 to start the 2022 campaign. Teammates Richard Villafranco and Riley Willcox recorded back-to-back finishes while at the season-opener. Villafranco placed 14th overall with a time of 16:30.52 and Willcox crossed the line in 16:32.07 to round out the top-15 finishers on Friday.

Sophomore Mattia Marci and freshman Matthew Riggs competed at the event and also finished back-to-back in the field. Marci finished 17th overall with a career-best time of 16:44.00, while Riggs in his collegiate debut posted a time of 16:53.99 to finish in 18th place.

"Today was a solid start to a new era in Mount Olive Cross Country," said Head Cross Country Coach Alex Noel. "The groups largely executed well and we'll be ready to perform at our first true race next weekend. In particular, I was very pleased with Aman Tsegay's performance to bring home a win to start our campaign. Go Trojans!"

The Trojans return to action on Saturday, Sept. 17, when they compete at the Converse Kick-Off in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The event will serve as a preview for the team of the Roger Milliken Center, which will host the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championships this fall.