Results
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Oct. 26) – Senior
Riley Willcox earned all-league honors for a consecutive year on Saturday morning, as the University of Mount Olive men's cross country program finished seventh overall in the team standings at the Conference Carolinas Championships.
The Trojans totaled 162 total points at the conference meet while featuring 11 runners in the field. UNC Pembroke claimed its third consecutive Conference Carolinas title with 48 points behind five runners in the top 15 overall. Converse finished as the runner-up with 68 points while Lees-McRae rounded out the top three with 73 points.
Willcox garnered All-Conference Carolinas Third-Team status after placing 17th overall at the league meet with a time of 26 minutes, 9.4 seconds in the eight-kilometer race. He posted an average mile time of 5:15.8 while the Trojans have featured 15 all-conference honorees in the previous 16 years.
Fellow senior
Aman Tsegay crossed the line with a time of 26:25.2 to finish 23rd in a field of nearly 150 runners with an average mile of 5:19. In his first appearance at the conference event, freshman
Ayden Thompson registered a 35th-place finish behind a mark of 26:58.7, while sophomore
Evan Hall placed 46th after crossing the line in 27:28.5. Following right behind, junior
Josh Hendren rounded out the team scorers for the Trojans in 47th with a time of 27:29.5.
Just four positions back, senior
Richard Villafranco posted a time of 27:33.3 to finish 50th overall. The freshmen duo of
James Cabrera (28:18.3) and
Titus Tanui (28:41.4) finished 77th and 87th, respectively in the field. Additionally, sophomore
Devon Coughlin (113th, 30:16.1), freshman
Cullen Pfanmiller (116th, 30:40.6), and freshman
Adam Hill (137th, 33:23.6) competed in the race.
Southern Wesleyan junior Ronan O'Neill repeated as the individual champion in the Conference Carolinas with a significant 44.5 seconds victory behind a time of 24:24.8.
Mount Olive is idle for two weeks before it competes at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday, November 9, at the same venue as the league championship, Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
