CENTRAL, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan women's cross country were crowned champions of the Warrior Invitational/NCCAA South Region Championship on Saturday in the annual race held on SWU's campus.

The Warriors placed three in the top six and four in the top-10 en route to their first meet win since the 2013 Toccoa Falls Invitational.  SWU finished 2^nd in last year's Warrior Invitational behind Bob Jones on a tiebreaker.

Senior Sierra Zemanick led the way for the Warriors, finishing the 5K course in 20:46.46, behind only Belmont Abbey's Lucy Schmitz who won the race in a time of 20:07.76.  SWU freshman Alana Grant finished 4^th with a time of 21:20.08 as fellow freshman Michelle Last came in 6^th at 21:58.77.

The Warriors won the meet with 33 points, outpacing Bob Jones by 43.  The Warriors top five all finished in the top-12.  The Bruins were followed by Columbia International, Belmont Abbey, Toccoa Falls, North Georgia Tech and Warren Wilson.

SWU's Emily Haper (22:20.72) finished 9^th in the race and Shy'Keya Wimberly (22:43.65) finished 12^th to round out the scorers.  Sarah Cash and Kira Emmett were 14^th and 15^th respectively as the Warriors had seven of the top-15 in the meet.

The race doubled as the NCCAA South Regional, which the Warriors claimed over Bob Jones, Columbia International and Toccoa Falls.  Zemanick was the region's top performer with the top-7 all receiving all-region honors.

The Warriors will take next week off before heading to Florida State University on Friday, Oct. 10.

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