LUMBERTON – Sophomore Joshua Chepkesir busted a 17-year-old meet record by 18 seconds on the way to his second-straight Peach Belt Conference individual title and led the UNC Pembroke men's cross country team to a third place showing in the final team standings on Saturday morning at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton.
 
On the women's side, Erman Jepleting (3^rd) and Skylar Moreno (12^th) both raked in all-conference laurels with top-15 showings to lead the Braves to a fifth place finish.
 
Chepkesir registered a time of 23:48.04 to outpace the rest of the 93-man field by more than a minute and destroy the previous meet record (24:06) that was established by North Florida's Zepherinus Joseph in 2002. Silus Kipkoech picked up all-conference nods with a time of 24:53.76 and a runner-up showing for the second consecutive year. Jarett Arabie crossed in 22^nd place with a time of 27:00.88, while newcomers Mat Maier (27:18.71) and Tirus Kirwa (27:28.65) rounded out the scoring for the Black & Gold in 25^th and 26^th place, respectively.
 
Delsin Burkhart (29^th) covered the 8K course in 27:40.65, Holden Newman (28:21.29) was 40^th and freshman Will Stratton (28:27.15) tallied a 41^st-place finish. Hunter Levy (28:40.88) and Adam Lindee (30:56.86) rounded out the competition for the hosts in 44^th and 62^nd place, respectively.
 
Jepleting (18:51.82) registered the 4^th-fastest 5K time in the history of the women's program at UNCP on the way to a third-place finish, and sophomore Skylar Moreno was 12^th with a time of 19:21.20. Freshman Valery Samoei (19:56) crossed in 26^th place, while Sam Badami (21:13.60) and Riley Axe (21:22.42) rounded out the scoring for the Braves in 48^th and 50^th place, respectively.
 
Corey Pethers (21:26.68) came away with a 53^rd-place finish, Shelby McMurray (22:09.31) was 63^rd and Brookelyn Johnson covered the 5K course in 23:12.30.
 
The Braves will take a two-week hiatus from competition before returning to action on November 9 at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships in Wingate.


 

PBC CHAMPIONSHIPS (OCTOBER 26)
WOMEN'S 5K		MEN'S 8K
Winner: Micah Weathers, Augusta (18:03.22)		Winner: Joshua Chepkesir, UNC Pembroke (23:48.04)
3	Erman Jepleting, 18:51.82	1	$ Joshua Chepkesir, 23:48.04
12	Skylar Moreno, 19:21.20	2	Silus Kipkoech, 24:53.76
26	Valary Samoei, 19:56.01	22	Jarett Arabie, 27:00.88
48	Sam Badami, 21:13.60	25	Mat Maier, 27:18.71
50	Riley Axe, 21:22.42	26	Tirus Kirwa, 27:28.65
53	Corey Pethers, 21:26.68	29	Delsin Burkhart, 27:40.65
63	Shelby McMurray, 22:09.31	40	Holden Newman, 28:21.29
73	Brookelyn Johnson, 23:12.30	41	Will Stratton, 28:27.15
		44	Hunter Levy, 28:40.77
		62	Adam Lindee, 30:56.86
\		$ = PBC Championships Record ! = Personal Best