The cross country team competed at the HBCU cross country
challenge Oct. 1.
The cross country team competed at the HBCU cross country challenge Oct. 1.
Six out of ten A&T runners placed in the Top 25, among them was Janessa Benn who placed 3rd out of 106 runners in the 5K run with a time of 19:14.0.
When asking a fatigued Benn how she felt about her performance and the meet overall she said, “Today I ran this race for three people God, Myself and my God Mother. My God Mother is a third time breast cancer survivor, and I couldn’t make it to her walk today so instead I ran my hardest. I was determined to win; the girls did an excellent job we got four medals and Roshel pulled her weight. Because everyone pulled through we know what we are capable of.”
Competitive HBCUs Hampton University, Winston Salem State and Norfolk State University were in attendance, prepped for a good race.
The invitational started with the 8K run. After a long journey, A&T’s Paris Simmons finished 18th out of 101 male runners, with a time of 27:37.7 and freshman Christian Harrison was not far behind placing 23rd running 28:01.5.
Freshman Marvin Lambert, seniors Steve Liggins and Danzeto Cephas, held their weight in the race placing in the top 60.
Overall A&T placed sixth out of sixteen teams with a total of 162 points and a total time of 2:25:09.61. Harrison, a new face and a major asset to the Aggies’ cross country team stated “Top 25 this week, top 15 next week, superb performance at MEAC’s.”
Norfolk State won the males HBCU cross country challenge with a time of 2:08:36.00.
“It was a challenging course, three of my ladies finished in top twenty five; we are just now prepping for the MEAC championship.” Stated Head Coach of Norfolk State University Ronda Berard.
The girls showed up and showed out placing fourth out of seventeen teams. Junior Janessa Benn placed 3rd out of 106 females with a time of 19:14.0.
Juniors Arianna Betts, Kristin Rushand, and Samira Johnson, placed in top 25 receiving a medal. Sophomore Roshel Bygrave placed in top 60 helping the Lady Aggies claim fourth place overall. As a team they ran 1:44:34.56.
Overall Hampton University won the Female HBCU challenge with a time of 1:37:17.10.
Like North Carolina A&T, Norfolk State University is a well-known school in the MEAC Conference. “Overall we ran really well, everyone dropped their times tremendously showing that our training program is going really well, I am looking forward to the MEAC’s Championship,” said a satisfied Coach James Daniels. At the beginning of the season, Daniels explained that the HBCU challenge was the meet he was looking forward to the most.
The next meet will take place this weekend in Durham.
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- Meagan Jordan, Contributor