CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — The Marietta College men's and women's cross country teams raced in the Royals Cross Country Challenge Friday (Oct. 10) afternoon. The Pioneer men finished 12th, while the women placed 16th.
 
Southern Wesleyan won the men's 8,000-meter race with a total of 55 points. August was second with 71 points, followed by Virginia-Wise (104), Belmont Abbey (111), Washington & Lee (135), Wingate (174), Catawba (186), Citadel (194), Pfeiffer (268), Louisburg (283), Erskine (292), Marietta (296), Johnson & Wales (369), Ferrum (380), Lander (405), Brevard (406), and Coker (480).
 
Jonah Adams from Virginia-Wise won the men's individual title with a time of 25:29.88. Charles Putnam (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) was Marietta's top finisher with a time of 27:06.46, good for 32nd place.
 
The rest of the Pioneer lineup included Charles Estadt (Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) (27:47.36), Kevin Hernandez (Plymouth, Ohio/Willard) (28:05.94), Hunter Uptain (Millersburg, Ohio/West Holmes) (28:09.67), Aiden Westerman (Vincent, Ohio/Warren Local) (29:09.17), Cooper Warren (Logan, Ohio/) (31:28.95), Max King (Granville, Ohio/Granville) (31:39.34), and Hunter Wick (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) (39:43.97).
 
In the women's 5,000-meter race, Meredith won the team title with 69 points. Virginia-Wise was second with 101 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (127), Lander (138), Augusta (154), Citadel (165), Southern Wesleyan (174), Belmont Abbey (176), Georgia College (191), Emory & Henry (197), Young Harris (283), Pfeiffer (315), Coker (351), Ferrum (357), Erskine (388), Marietta (427), Brevard (446), Salem (NC) (537), and Johnson & Wales (561).
 
Meredith's Delaney Bundy won the women's individual title with a time of 18:36.56. Audrey Helmick (Berkeley Springs, W.Va./Berkeley Springs) placed 39th with a time of 20:55.44 to lead the Pioneers.
 
The rest of the Marietta lineup included Michaela Hieronymus (Letart, W.Va./Wahama) (22:53.07), Katelyn South (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) (23:16.14), Leilani Navarro (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Wood County Christian School) (24:13.49), and Rami Padilla (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) (28:31.31).
 
Marietta is back in action at the Wilmington JennaStrong Fall Classic on Friday (Oct. 17).
 
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.