Freshmen Shine for Mercer in Pair of Races

Saturday, September 29

Spartanburg, S.C.

9 a.m.

Mercer University

Upstate Invitational

Results (PDF)

Photo by: Larry Dancy

9/29/2018 12:46:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Women's Results Men's Results

Mercer women take fifth in Spartanburg, men take 10th in Louisville

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – A group of freshmen took the spotlight as Mercer's men's and women's cross country teams competed in a pair of races on Saturday morning.

Mercer's women placed fifth out of 22 teams at the Upstate Invitational 5K race, held at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, S.C. Mercer's men placed 10th out of 45 teams in the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic 8K "Blue" race at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville.

All seven Mercer women who competed in Spartanburg tallied season-best times, including a duo of freshmen, Hannah Corson (18:53.6) and Ashley McMahon (19:08.6), who finished inside the top 25 individually. Corson's sub-19-minute time earned her 16th place, which was best among the Bears.

The men finished with a total time of 2:10:55.10 and an average of 26:11.02 for the six runners who competed in Louisville. Freshmen Scotty McKenzie and Vladi Zander-Velloso were the men's top finishers, both finishing with sub-26-minute times in the 8K race for the first time this season.

Women's 5K Individual Results (Upstate)
16. Hannah Corson, 18:53.6
23. Ashley McMahon, 19:08.6
44. Marina Van Sickle, 19:51.1
50. Jerrica Hanson, 20:03.2
71. Bella Thomas, 20:44.7
75. Nidhi Shashidhara, 20:48.6
116. Isabella LeBlanc, 22:18.3

Men's 8K Individual Results (Louisville)
47. Scotty McKenzie, 25:53.5
51. Vladi Zander-Velloso, 25:56.2
59. Rob Zell, 26:05.3
66. Sean Parker, 26:08.5
143. Diego Lavieri Sosa, 26:51.6
171. Marc Reiser, 27:04.3

Up Next
Both of Mercer's cross country teams will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. for the FSU Invitational on Oct. 12. It will be the Bears' final regular-season races before shifting focus to the Southern Conference Championships (Oct. 27).

Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Cross Country, follow the team at @MercerXCTF (Twitter) and visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.