Salisbury, NC – Fayetteville State opened the 2018 cross country season at the Salisbury Community Park on Saturday morning (Sept. 1) with a women's fourth place finish in Catawba College's Chick Fil-A Invitational. The men finished tenth.
Aleena Cruz (Raleigh, NC), the reigning CIAA XC Runner of the Year, finished the 5-kilometer course 14th overall in a time of 22:19.9 with an average mile of 7:11.2 to lead the stampeding Broncos.
Carisha Leonard (Rocky Mount, NC) wasn't too far behind scoring 23 points with a 24th place finish. With an average mile of 7:38.8, she finished the course with a time of 23:45.7.
Mylasia Pratt(Laurinburg, NC) was 30th for 28 points in a time of 24:25.4.
Catawba College won the meet with a score of 28 points and an average time of 21:09. Twelve teams participated in the annual event with 91 runners completing the course. Belmont Abbey (42 points) and Methodist (71 points) was second and third, respectfully. The Monarch's third place 22:28 (avg. time) was a little over two-minutes better than the Broncos. Fellow CIAA member, Winston-Salem State finished sixth overall with their best running (Ojai Brooks) crossing the line 27th in a time of 24:05.3.
Richard Prudente-Bernal (Fayetteville, NC) led the 8-kilometer race for the men's team with a 49th place finish (out of 98 runners) in a time of 32:00.8 for 40 points. Richard Prudente-Bernal (Laurinburg, NC) secured 61 points when he crossed the finish line 84th.
Fayetteville State will be in familiar territory this weekend when the Broncos compete in the Methodist University Monarch Challenge.
