SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men's and women's cross country teams began the 2026 season on a hot Friday evening in the Eye Opener meet at the Roger Milliken Research Center Park. The women were ninth and the men were eleventh overall in the meet.
In the women's 5K race,
Ava Dennis was 39
th overall in 19:40.33 to lead the Terriers. Freshman
Madison Sledge was the next Terrier to finish at 20:08.63, followed by
Sarah Turner (21:03.32), freshman
Avah Mallek (21:14.37), and
Kristen Hallman (22.04.74).
The men's 8K competition followed and
Liam Jones was the top Terrier finisher with a time of 28:02.2.
Aydan Layton was next for Wofford in 29:11.4, with Aidan Sellers (30:52.0), freshman
Fate Hall (30:58.1), freshman
Carson Hodges (32:14.9), and freshman Chap Wilbanks (32:26.3), rounding out the finishers.
Overall, South Carolina was first in the women's race of 13 teams with 26 points, followed by Clemson, Liberty, East Tennessee State, and Longwood. The men's race of 13 teams was won by Clemson with 17 points, with Liberty, Augusta, UNC Pembroke, and East Tennessee State rounding out the top five.
Both the men's and women's teams will be back in action on Friday, September 25, at the Fall Collegiate Cross Country Invitational in Mill Spring, N.C.
