CARY, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's and women's cross country teams competed in nearby Cary, N.C. on Friday at the Adidas XC Challenge at the WakeMed Soccer Park. Sophomore Meshack Kuyo finished 14th with a time of 18:06.3 in the men's 6k race.
The men's squad finished tenth out of 14 teams collecting 273 team points with a total time of 1:39:09 averaging 19:49 per runner. With seven runners competing, the women's team finished 11th out of 14 teams with 359 points totaling 1:41:48 in the 5k event averaging just over 20 minutes per runner.
In Kuyo's first 6k race as an Eagle, he stayed on pace in the top-20 throughout the race lined up against competitors from NC State, Wake Forest, first-place finisher Liberty University and many more. He contributed 10 points to the total team score for the Maroon and Gray.
Junior Emmanuel Paddyfote shaved off over a minute from his previous personal best in the 6k distance at 18:47.7 finishing 36th. Evans Kimutai completed his first race in an NC Central uniform running a time of 19:38.0 for 84th.
Octavious Smith (139th – 21:18.3), Corey Little (140th – 21:19.6) and Wesley Kibet (151st – 21:55.9) rounded out the final runners for the Eagles on the men's side.
Coming just shy of the top 100 was Alitza Dennard in 104th at 19:41.9 leading the women's team. Not far behind was Kayla Johnson in 116th at 20:15.7 and Sharon Magut in 118th running 20:17.6 for a new personal record.
The final four runners for the women's team were Gianna Marquez (125th – 20:39.1), Laila Jackson (130th – 20:54.2), Navi McDowell (148th – 24:08.5) and Taylor Hanson (149th – 25:03.7).
Both cross country teams return to the same course on Oct. 4 for the Cedric Walker HBCU Challenge. The women are set to run the 5k at 5 p.m. while the men wrap up the evening with the 8k race starting at 5:30 p.m.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.
