ANDERSON, S.C. – On the heels of strong showings at last week's USC Upstate Eye opener, the Anderson University men's and women's cross country teams will head back up Interstate 85 for the Furman Invitational, set to be held Saturday morning at the Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, S.C.
The women's race is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. with the men's race tentatively slated for a 9:15 a.m. start.
Saturday morning will mark AU's sixth appearance at Furman in seven seasons.
Led by Mason Hazel's seventh-place finish, the men's team finished seventh among non-NCAA Division I schools a season ago, with Luke Horne finishing 58th and John Drummond crossed the finish line in 91st place.
On the women's side, Haylee Love claimed 12th place as AU finished fourth last season. Alex Dixon placed 21st with Abigail Bozarth crossing the finish line in the 39th spot. Breck Jones was just behind in 40th place and Martha Coleman finished in 43rd place. Maddie Buddenberg took the 53rd slot, while Morgan Bridges placed 54th. Emily Olson finished in 143rd place.
Love won last week's Eye opener, while leading the Trojans to the top spot over Augusta, Emmanuel, Limestone and Converse. Junior Allyson Malone was just off the pace, finishing second. Coleman claimed third place, with freshman Olivia Evans bringing home fourth place.
Bozarth slashed 52 seconds off her time from last year's Eye Opener and finished seventh, while Buddenberg finished in ninth place. Freshman Olivia Rish crossed the line in 11th place, with Alex Dixon taking 14th place.
Freshman Hannah Beach and Bridges were 15th and 16th, respectively. Senior Hannah Sanford finished in 18th place, while Jones was 20th among D-II runners. Freshman Lydia Gambrel claimed 25th and classmate Joellen Palzer finished 28th.
Senior Emily Pitts was 30th, while freshman Katherine Lewis was 34th. Sophomore Emily Olson posted a career-best time of 23:23.3 and claimed 35th, with freshman Natalie Ardis rounding out the Trojan contingent in 40th place.
The Trojan men's squad finished second in last week's 8K event, with newcomers leading the way. Freshman Weston Hutto finished fifth among D-II runners. Classmate Ben Clark was just behind in sixth place and freshman Joey Teachout claimed ninth place, while fellow freshman Phillip Quillen finished 11th.
Freshman Ian Yates was 15th, with sophomore Luke Horne finishing 16th. Freshman Riley Dixon and senior John Drummond were 19th and 22nd, respectively. The freshman duo of Hayden Tuten and David Rolon claimed 24th and 27th, respectively among D-II runners.
