Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University cross country teams won the team titles at the 2012 Pre-South Atlantic Conference Invitational, hosted by the Bulldogs at the Wingate Cross Country Facility. The Pre-SAC Invitational concludes Wingate’s regular season schedule. The Bulldogs will compete in the Food Lion SAC championship meet Saturday, Oct. 20. Tusculum College is hosting this year’s event on the TC campus.
 
WOMEN’S 5K RACE
 
The number six team in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region, Wingate posted 29 points to edge region number one UNC Pembroke by three markers (29-32). Catawba was third with 76 points, while Livingstone was fourth with 97. Twenty-nine runners finished the women’s 5K race.
 
Wingate senior Melanie Wollenberg (New Lexington, Ohio) won her first collegiate race with a lifetime personal best 5K time of 19:50. Bulldog junior Tiana Barnes (Winchester, Calif.) also set a personal record, placing second with a time of 20:14. UNC Pembroke senior Livia Mahaffie (Puyallup, Wash.) and freshman Savannah Fornshell (Iron Station, N.C.) were third (20:17) and fourth (20:19), respectively.
 
Bulldog freshman Samantha Haering (Chalfont, Pa.) rounded out the top five with her 20:24 clocking. Catawba junior Olivia Myers (Lexington, N.C.) was top finisher for the Indians, placing seventh for the second year in a row (20:34). Livingstone junior Anna-Kay Edwards (Kingston, Jamaica) led the Blue Bears, placing 10th with a 5K time of 20:57.
 
MEN’S 5K RACE
 
Wingate junior Binyam Ateka Belachew (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) won his second race of the season, crossing the finish line with a 5K time of 16:12. Wingate occupied the top four spots. Sophomores Jordan Phillips (Cornelius, N.C.) and Scott Pullen (Roswell, Ga.) were second (16:33) and third (16:56), respectively. Freshman Chris Gibson (Kernersville, N.C.) was fourth with a time of 17:01.
 
Catawba freshman Nathan Hatley (King, N.C.) was fifth with a 5K time of 17:01. UNC Pembroke freshmen Matt Reith (Oak Harbor, Wash.) and Zach Millsaps (Statesville, N.C.) were sixth (17:05) and seventh (17:07), respectively. Livingstone freshman Antonio Washington (Upper Marlboro, Md.) grabbed 18th place with a 5K time of 18:47. Washington was the top finisher for the CIAA member Blue Bears.