Lady Braves Open Season With Monumental Accomplishment
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The UNCP women's cross country team accomplished a colossal feat at the Gamecock Invitational on Friday evening when every runner finished in the top-10 to record an achievement that has not been done since head coach Gary Aycock inherited the program over four years ago.
Not only did the Lady Braves make history with a team performance, but five of the seven runners improved their times from the meet a year ago when the Lady Braves also took home an overall first place finish.
Senior Livia Mahaffie was challenged throughout the race by fellow teammate and freshman Kyndal Boykin as the duo placed first and second, respectively. Mahaffie crossed the finish line with a time of 19:36.40 which was an improvement from last year's race by more than 22 seconds.
Senior Annette Sem crossed the finish line in fourth place with a time of 20:25.10, while sophomore Kendra Dorn shaved two seconds off her time from a year ago to finish sixth with a time of 21:10.70.
Cutting of more than a 90 seconds was senior Blair Long who showed the largest stride from last year as she ran a time of 21:45.10 for a seventh place finish. Sophomore Julie Sem placed ninth overall with a time of 22:18.00 to help the Lady Braves hold a 39 point lead over the second place team from Benedict.
The Black and Gold collected 20 points to finish first among four teams. "It was a good start to our season. It's hot out here … and the grass was pretty long so the race was running pretty slow today," said Aycock.
"I am extremely pleased with how the women raced today. We ran well as a pack through mile two and then split up through climbing the hill going into the third mile," said Aycock.
UNCP will be in action again on September 15 when it travels to Rock Hill, S.C., for the ADIDAS/Winthrop Invitational. The women's 5K race is set to start at 9:45 a.m.
UNCP Results:
- Livia Mahaffie (1st, 19:36.40)
- Kyndal Boykin (2nd, 19:56.20)
- Annette Sem (4th, 20:25.10)
- Kendra Dorn (6th, 21:10.70)
- Blair Long (7th, 21:45.10)
- Julie Sem (9th, 22:18.00)
