Cross Country Seasons End at NCAA Southeast Regionals for Clemson

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson men’s and women’s cross country seasons came to a close Friday at the NCAA Southeast Regionals at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, VA. The Tiger women finished 18th out of 38 teams, while the men’s squad was 19th out of 35.

The highest individual finishers were all on the men’s side Friday. Roland Hakes, the team’s most improved runner in 2013, led the way with a 49th-place effort out of 239 competitors. Hakes, a graduate of Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, SC, turned in a time of 30:34.3 at the 10,000-meter course.

Hakes was followed closely once again by teammate Aaron Ramirez, who finished 58th. Ramirez capped a solid season with a time of 30:43.0. He finished a comfortable distance of Clemson’s third best individual, Stephen Lewandowski (120th). Lewandowski’s 10K time was 31:43.7. Clemson’s final two male scorers were Josh Davis (124th – 31:50.6) and Evan Abdullah (147th – 32:18.6).

On the women’s team, freshman Grace Barnett took the top individual honors for Clemson by finishing 72nd out of in a race that featured 265 runners. Barnett, who hails from the Myrtle Beach area, ran a time of 22:10.6 across the 6,000-meter Panorama Farms course. She finished eight positions ahead of senior Cara Talty, who concluded her career with a time of 22:14.8.

As she has all season long, freshman Alexa Womack was a strong contributor Friday. The Peach State native produced a time of 22:18.7 and was 85th place overall. The team’s final two scorers from Friday’s meet were Catherine Herring (128th – 22:50.7) and Evie Tate (136th – 22:58.9).

The teams will recover over the next several weeks and rejoin their track & field teammates in preparation for the indoor season, which starts with a home meet on Saturday, Jan. 11.