Smyrna, Del. (October 15, 2016)—It was a banner day for the Mount St. Mary's men's and women's cross country teams as Maddie Kole took home first place in the women's race while Nicolas Fransham finished in first place in the men's race at the Delaware State Pre-Conference Run today. The meet was held at the DSU Outreach & Research Center.
Kole took home first-place honors on the five-kilometer course with a time of 19:01.70, almost 21 seconds ahead of North Carolina A&T's G'Jasmyne Butler. Kole, a two-time Northeast Conference Athlete and Rookie of the Week, won individual race honors for the second time this year. She was the first-place finisher at the Cappy Anderson Invitational earlier this season.
The Mountaineers had three runners in the top 12 at the race with Ashleigh Kocher (20:13.30) placing sixth, Clarke Hooper seventh (20:26.30) and Jill Greenwald 12th (21:05.80). Grace King rounded out the Mount's top five, finishing 26th overall with a time of 22:06.10.
Fransham edged North Carolina A&T's Darren White by two seconds to grab first place in the men's race. Fransham traversed the eight-kilometer course in a time of 25:56.50. The Mountaineers placed four runners in the top eight as Benjamin Finnigan was fifth (26:53.10), Mitchel Wileczek sixth (27:12.70) and Chris Evans eighth (27:32.30). Jonah Smith finished 20th overall in a time of 28:39.00 to round out the Mount's top five.
In the team standings, the Mount women finished in second place with 52 points, behind winners North Carolina A&T (39). The remainder of the field included Morgan State (68), Howard (113), Wesley (116), Coppin State (137), Delaware State (168), Rutgers-Newark (213) and the District of Columbia (228).
On the men's side, North Carolina A&T edged the Mount by three points for first place. The Aggies won the meet with 37 points, followed by the Mount (40), Coppin State (109), Wesley (124), Delaware State (129), Rutgers-Newark (137), Howard (176) and Morgan State (188).
This is the Mount's last meet of the regular season. The NEC Championships will be held on Saturday, October 29, at Saint Francis University.
