MADISON, Wis. -- The Furman men's cross country team placed 16th, while the women finished 22nd, Friday in highly ranked fields at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational presented by Under Armour at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis.
The Paladin men scored 439 points in the 8K race, which featured 17 top-25 teams. Top-ranked New Mexico scored 59 points for the victory, followed by sixth-ranked Colorado in second place with 93 points. No. 7 BYU tallied 146 points to finish third.
Senior Chris Knight recorded a time of 23:19.7 to lead Furman in 36th place, while sophomore Ty Jones finished 47th with a time of 23:33.2. Senior Trevor Coggin posted a time of 23:46.3 for 81st place, and senior Owen Shifflett placed 123rd at 24:02.9. Sophomore Zach Youngblood took 142nd place at 24:09.4 to complete the Paladin scorers, and junior Colin Eckerman finished 183rd at 24:29.7.
The Furman women scored 573 points in their 6K race, which featured 15 top-25 teams. Ninth-ranked West Virginia won the meet with 66 points, followed by No. 13 Florida in second place with 111 points. No. 3 Northern Arizona placed third with 130 points.
Sophomore Tessa Walter paced the Paladins with a time of 20:24.2 to finish 56th. Sophomore Elly Velasquez turned in a time of 20:40.9 for 83rd place, and freshman Georgy Helmers finished 108th at 20:56.9. Junior Nysa Males crossed the line in 21:10.8 to place 147th, while freshman Bridget Dunn finished off the Furman scoring in 179th place at 21:33.1. Juniors Zoie Lamanna and Rory Sullivan placed 182nd (21:36.6) and 185th (21:39.0), respectively.
Freshmen Lucas Tanner and Evan Spreitzer competed in the men's B race. Spreitzer finished 55th with a time of 24:48.3, and Tanner posted a time of 25:15.2 for 82nd.
Select members of the Paladin teams will run on Friday afternoon in Queens' Royals Cross Country Challenge at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday. The women's gold 5K race is slated for 5 p.m. with the men's gold 8K set to follow at 5:45 p.m.
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Complete Furman Results
Nuttycombe Invitational
Women - 22nd out of 33 teams - 6K - 573 Points
56th Tessa Walter 20:24.2
83rd Elly Velasquez 20:40.9
108th Georgy Helmers 20:56.9
147th Nysa Males 21:10.8
179th Bridget Dunn 21:33.1
182nd Zoie Lamanna 21:36.6
185th Rory Sullivan 21:39.0
Men - 16th out of 35 teams - 8K - 439 points
36th Chris Knight 23:19.7
57th Ty Jones 23:33.2
81st Trevor Coggin 23:46.3
123rd Owen Shifflett 24:02.9
142nd Zach Youngblood 24:09.4
183rd Colin Eckerman 24:29.7
Men's B Race
55th Evan Spreitzer 24:48.3
82nd Lucas Tanner 25:15.2
