RESULTS
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Clemson men’s and women’s cross country teams both earned runner-up team finishes at South Carolina’s ‘Carolina Challenge’ Saturday morning. Sophomore Colt Griffith led the men’s squad, completing the 5K course in 15:38.3 to place third overall. On the women’s side, sophomore Logan Morris paced the Tigers with a time of 18:09.0, good for a sixth-place finish among collegiate competitors. Additionally, the Tiger women (46 points) defeated South Carolina (52 points), making headway in the Palmetto series.
“I thought based on the plan for today’s races both teams ran very well for the season opener,” said Clemson head track & field/cross country coach Mark Elliott. “Today went according to the plan that Coach [Michael] Porter had. Both teams did exactly what he expected - they ran as a team and finished well.”
Griffith’s time of 15.38.3 is a career best. Michael Smith (15:39.3, 4th), John Ward (15:52.2, 5th), Daniel Shaughnessy (15:53.1, 6th) and Jacob Slann (16:10.0, 10th) accounted for the Tigers’ 28 points, who finished just one point behind first-place East Carolina (27 points).
Finishing right behind Morris were Elizabeth Dawson (18:17.7) and Jenna Gearing (18:18.9) in seventh and eighth, respectively. Erin McLaughlin (18:46.4, 12th) and Liz Sauder (18:47.1, 13th) rounded out the Tigers’ scoring pack for the women’s group.
Up next, the Tigers head to Winthrop, the host of the 2018 NCAA Southeast Regional meet in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 15.
For complete coverage of the Tiger cross country/track & field team, follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter and Instagram, and ‘Clemson University Track & Field’ on Facebook.
