Trojans Bring Home Second Place Team Finish At Royal Cross Country Challenge

Trojans Bring Home Second Place Team Finish At Royal Cross Country Challenge

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - The University of Mount Olive men's cross country team finished second overall behind Lee University with 98 team points and two top-10 finishers. Tai Smith and Jacob Gonzalez finished fifth and ninth respectively to lead the Trojans.

MEET INFORMATION
The Trojan men's team had another strong showing at their meet today in Charlotte, NC. UMO finished second of 57 teams that competed at the Royal Cross Country Challenge with 98 total team points. The field consisted of schools from all three Divisions, I, II, and III.

INSIDE THE RESULTS
Tai Smith led the way for the Trojans with a fifth-place finish and a time of 23:59.4. He was followed by junior Jacob Gonzalez who rounded out the top-10 for UMO with a ninth-place finish and a 24:16.2 time.

Branson Oduor and Jay Hall were the next two to cross the line coming in 29th and 33rd respectively. Oduor ran a time of 24:49.5, while Hall ran a 24:56.6 eight-kilometer time. Senior Daniel Francken was the last Trojan in the top-50, finishing 42nd with a 25:07 mark. 

Altan Cornu ran a 26:07.3 time and crossed the line in 119th. Freshman Ben Aris was the next Trojan finishing 171st with a 26:36.4 time.

Also running at the Royal XC Challenge were Jett Hall (230th - 27:04.1), Lane Woodall (295th - 27:46.0), and Aidan Gilbride who did not finish.

UP NEXT
The Trojans are back on the course in two weeks when they host the 2019 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Championship meet on Oct. 26.