CONCORD, N.C.–Junior Austin Edmonds recorded his third straight top-10 finish of the season to lead the Barton College men's cross country team in the Conference Carolinas Preview Friday at Frank Liske Park.
The Sandy Ridge, N.C., product placed fourth among 37 harriers in the 5K race, which was a shorter version of the Conference Carolinas Championship that will be run over 8K on the same course Oct.25. He did so with a 5K personal record (PR) time of 16:40, which was eight seconds better than the result he posted in an eighth-place finish at Wilmington in the season-opener. His time on Friday was also a minute better than his result in the same event in Concord last year. Edmonds' other finish in 2013 was a runner-up showing at Barton's own Bulldog Invitational.
Freshman Luar Mercado Lopez added his second top-10 of the year in the Conference Carolinas Preview, helping the Bulldogs to a third-place team finish among four squads competing in the event. Lopez placed ninth in Friday's race, just as he did in the Bulldog Invitational. Lopez posted a time of 17:23 on the Concord layout, which was a 53-second improvement upon his first 5K effort of the year at Wilmington.
Barton's other scoring runners in the Conference Carolinas Preview were freshman Adam Pope, who finished 18th with a time of 18:05, and a pair of seniors, John Aranda, who placed 23rd with a time of 18:43, and Anthony Nelson, who came in 25th with a time of 19:06. Pope shaved 51 seconds off of his previous 5K run, and Aranda knocked 53 seconds off of his time at Wilmington.
Also competing for Barton were junior Daniel Strutton (32nd, 19:49) and freshman Tyler Amerson (33rd, 19:51).
Freshman Yacine Gharbi, who had finished second among Barton's runners in each of the year's first two races, stopped during the race as a precaution over an injury concern.
Barton collected 71 points as a team, edging Erskine College for third place by a single point. Lees-McRae won the men's race with 33 points and North Greenville was second with 50 points.
The Bulldogs will run another preview race next weekend in Charlotte when it competes in the Royals Cross Country Invitational, hosted by Queens University of Charlotte at McAlpine Creek Park. The course will also serve as the site for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Nov. 9.
Conference Carolinas Preview (Men's 5K)
71 – Barton (3rd/4)
16:40 – Austin Edmonds (4th/37)
17:23 – Luar Mercado Lopez (9th)
18:05 – Adam Pope (18th)
18:43 – John Aranda (23rd)
19:06 – Anthony Nelson (25th)
19:49 – Daniel Strutton (32nd)
19:51 – Tyler Amerson (33rd)
