Men's Cross Country | 10/10/2015 10:39:00 AM

Lake Buena Vista, Fla.----The Wingate University men's cross country team finished ninth in the Disney World Cross Country Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Saturday. The men's field included 25 teams and 256 finishers with schools from all three NCAA divisions and the NAIA. The Wingate women finished fifth out of 34 teams in a field with 304 competitors (men's results).

Wingate junior Nepolian Patel (Rocky Mount, N.C.) claimed sixth place with an 8K time of 25:20.80. Patel's three finishes this year include a first-place showing (Catawba), a second-place finish (Bulldog Stampede) and today's sixth-place performance. "I'm happy Nepolian made it onto the awards stage today," Wingate head cross country coach Ashley Vaughn Glover says. "More importantly, I'm proud of the decision making skills he displayed."

Bulldog freshman Dalton Cox (Sanford, N.C.) was the next WU finisher, taking 60th place with an 8K time of 27:08.40. Wingate junior Jacob Troutman (Aberdeen, N.C.) was next on the Bulldog charts with an 8K time of 27:19.70.
 
Junior Dustin Hickernell (Boone, N.C.) was the fourth Wingate competitor to cross the finish line, posting an 8K time of 28:04.10. Sophomore Alex Tidwell (Monroe, N.C.) rounded out Wingate's top five with his 8K time of 28:16.40.
 
Individually, Tiffin junior James Ngandu (Nairobi, Kenya) finished first with an 8K time of 24:37.30. Defending Disney champion and Youngstown State senior Austin McLean (West Jefferson, Ohio) was second with an 8K time of 24:43.20. McLean and his YSU mates won the team title with 52 points. Malone (67), Saint Leo (90), Johns Hopkins (97) and Nova Southeastern (134) completed the top five on team leader board.

Six WU student-athletes finished in the women's top 50. Wingate senior Samantha Haering (Chalfont, Pa.) led the Bulldog charge with her 18:46.40 5K time. She claimed 15th place. 2015 Academic All-America® and WU junior Alyssa Johnson (San Jose, Calif.) was four spots back, taking the 19th position with her 18:53.00 5K time.

"The women did a better job of helping each other out on the course today," Glover says. "Samantha and Alyssa did a good job of leading the women. The two of them looked the best that they have all season in the later portions of the race."
 
Wingate redshirt freshman Sydney Lautzenheiser (North Canton, Ohio) was next on the Bulldog charts, taking 44th place with her 19:27.20 5K time. Sophomore Valerie Griesche (Ingolstadt, Germany) and junior Morgan Neher (Sedalia, Colo.) rounded out Wingate's team point scorers with 5K times of 19:28.30 and 19:29.60, respectively.
 
Bulldog sophomore Janet Salgueiro (Savannah, Ga.) earned a 50th place finish with her 5K time of 19:32.00. Johns Hopkins senior Sophia Meehan (Havertown, Pa.) won the individual crown with her 5K time of 17:41.50. Meehan and the JHU Blue Jays won the team title with 24 points (five runners in the top eight).
 
Spots two through five on the team leader board included Malone (94 points), Saint Leo (120), Tampa (131) and Wingate (161). The WU Bulldogs defeated six Division I schools (Youngstown State, Georgia Southern, Cleveland State, Florida Atlantic, Presbyterian and Florida International) and multiple Division II squads.
 
"We enjoyed some season PRs and personal bests today," Glover says. "We celebrated these steps forward, but we continue to work on realizing that we are even stronger than this."

Wingate will compete in the Wake Forest University Invitational Friday. The 2015 South Atlantic Conference championship meet is Saturday, Oct. 24 in Pineville, Ky. Lincoln Memorial is hosting this year's SAC meet at the Wasioto Winds Golf Course.