Louisville, Ky.----The Wingate University women's cross country team finished 18th out of 37 teams in the blue race of the 13th annual Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic. Only six NCAA Division II teams ran faster than the Bulldogs Saturday. The Louisville Sports Commission hosts the GLXCC at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, site of the NCAA Division II national championship meet (complete results).
 
Wingate sophomore Alyssa Johnson (San Jose, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with an 18:51.11 5K race. Her GLXCC time is a season-best for the 2013 All-South Atlantic Conference first team performer. Johnson finished 43rd in the star-studded field. All total, 351 student-athletes finished the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic blue race.
 
"I feel we ran really well through our top four Saturday," Wingate head cross country coach Joe Soehnlen says. "We had quite a few season bests and even a couple personal bests. I think we competed really well with the region and conference teams."
 
Sophomore Ashley Hinderer (Uniontown, Ohio) was Wingate's second finisher Saturday, posting a personal-best 19:09.18 5K time for a 76th place showing. Junior Samantha Haering (Chalfont, Pa.) and graduate student Brianna Stevens (Coshocton, Ohio) were next with 5K times of 19:18.10 and 19:18.48, respectively.
 
Haering's time is a college personal-best, while Stevens' posting is a season-best performance. Bulldog senior Austin Hoffman (Valdese, N.C.) landed in the fifth spot on the Bulldog charts, posting a season-best 5K time of 20:16.06.
 
Two Wingate freshmen ran college personal-best 5K times Saturday. Valerie Griesche (Ingolstadt, Germany) ran a 20:19.53, while Zaria Livingston (Charlotte, N.C.) was close by with her 20:22.59. Griesche and Livingston were sixth and seventh, respectively, on the Bulldog team list Saturday. Freshman Michelle Glenn (Monroe, N.C.) and graduate student Tiana Barnes (Winchester, Calif.) also competed in the GLXCC Saturday. 
 
The next challenge for the Bulldogs is Saturday, Oct. 18, as Wingate will race in the Montevallo (Ala.) Falcon Classic. The University of Montevallo is the site of the 2014 and 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Region men's and women's cross country meets. Wingate will host the NCAA XC regional races in 2015 and 2017 at the WU Cross Country Facility.