CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Fayetteville State University's cross country teams turned in strong performances at the Queens Royals Cross Country Challenge on Friday, highlighted by top-20 individual finishes from Faith Kiplimo and Brian Kiprop in the women's and men's gold division races, respectively.

In the women's 5,000-meter gold race, freshman Faith Kiplimo led the Lady Broncos with a 16th-place finish, clocking a time of 17:53.05, giving the Broncos a 9th-place finish. Sophomore Videlma Jebet followed in 39th place at 18:26.72, while Pelisha Kosgei crossed the line at 18:59.81. Senior Repline Cheptoo (19:41.41), senior Nia Gibson (20:13.53), senior Ashley Bell (20:18.63), and senior Brenda Cheboi (20:28.84) rounded out the scoring for Fayetteville State, which finished ninth overall with 294 points.

Northern Michigan captured the women's team title with 39 points, followed by Catawba (47) and host Queens University of Charlotte (131).

On the men's side, sophomore Brian Kiprop continued his standout season with a runner-up finish in the 8,000-meter gold race, posting a time of 24:15.29, giving the Broncos a 4th place finish. Fellow sophomore Franklin Kipchirchir was close behind in third at 24:16.13. Dominic Malel placed 17th in 25:03.03, while Ian Kiprono (25:37.81) and sophomore Rowny Kipchirchir (26:37.50) completed the scoring for the Broncos, who placed fourth overall with 130 points.

Freshman Collin Serem (140th, 28:07.00) and freshman Romeo Kipkosgei (156th, 29:25.46) also competed for FSU.

Charlotte won the men's team title with 42 points, followed by Catawba (66) and Augusta (99).

Fayetteville State will return to action later this month as they continue preparations for the CIAA Cross Country Championships to be held October 23rd in Salem, VA..