SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan men's cross country kicked-off their season ath the 31st Eye Opener hosted by USC Upstate on Friday night with a 9th place showing.
The Warriors were led by sophomore Stephen Spearman who placed 39th overall with a time of 29:29.58. John Fredrickson followed with a 48th place showing that began a cluster of SWU runners, finishing in 30:08.49. Freshman Jacob Rivera was 52nd after clocking in at 30:33.46 and Robert Gwinn was just behind Rivera in 54th with a time of 31:01.80.
The Warriors finished ahead of fellow Conference Carolina foe Erskine, who placed 10th. The Warriors were 10th a year ago and improved one spot despite the field growing from 12 to 17.
Davidson ran away with the team title as four of the top six finishers were Wildcats. Daniel Samet won the race in 26:20.92. King (Tenn.) was second followed by USC Upstate, SCAD Savannah and Young Harris to round out the top five.
Andrew Hochhalter was the fifth place finisher for the Warriors, placing 73rd overall with a time of 32:05.12. Jon Gibbon (76th, 32:18.88) and Erik Delgado (85th, 33:43.43) also competed in the field of 133.
The Warriors are back in action on Sept. 13 at Montreat College to run in the Hyder-McMahill Invitational. SWU placed 6th in the race a year ago.
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