Sept. 24, 2008
Daytona Beach, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University men's and women's cross country teams completed their fourth meet of the 2008 season, Saturday, Sept. 20, competing in the annual Embry-Riddle/Smoothie King Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Wildcat men placed ninth as a team, while the women's team only competed individually.
The women were led by freshman Lorye Manns (24:18.34), finishing 26th overall in the 5k run.
Also competing well for the Wildcats were sophomores Crystal Bardge (27:29.15) and Tenekia Flowers (27:47.09).
On the men's side, Bethune-Cookman was led in the 8k run by freshman William Cosby (32:49.05), finishing in 48th.
Also performing well was senior Derrick Collins with a time of 35:10.65, while teammates Derrick Taylor (36:59.79) and Marcell Keeling (37:31.51) both finished in the top 75 overall.
The young season has been marked by solid performances from newcomers. Freshmen Lorye Manns and William Cosby placed highest for BC-U in all meets this year.
Manns finished with her best time (23:21.54) in the 5k run during the UCF Cross Country Invitational, September 13, in Orlando. It has been a productive season so far for the St. Andrews, Grenada native, finishing 13th, 39th, 28th, and 26th.
Sophomore Crystal Bardge is also running well and is consistently the second BC-U runner to cross the finish line, finishing in the top 50 in every race this year. Also competing consistently well for the Wildcats are Tenekia Flowers and Tavia Burke.
As for the men, William Cosby, Derrick Collins, and Marcell Keeling have run consistently well this season. All three finished no lower than 35th leading up to the Smoothie King Invitational.
William Cosby has finished highest on the team each week, reaching a season's best time of 30:29.77 in the 8k run at the UCF Black & Gold Challenge on Sept. 5. So far, he has finished 11th, 26th, 12th, and 48th on the year.
B-CU will return to competition on Oct. 4, when they travel to Titusville, Fla. for the annual FLrunners.com Invitational.
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