by Benny Benton
CONCORD, N.C. – The Barton College men's cross country team matched its highest finish in the past decade with a sixth-place showing, and Joel Lagat posted the Bulldogs' best finish since 2002 with a seventh-place individual showing Friday at the 2015 Conference Carolinas Championships.
Led by the trio of Lagat, Lashley Winter and Tyler Amerson, Barton equaled the sixth-place finish of teams in 2005 and 2012.
Lagat, a sophomore from Eldoret, Kenya, completed the 8K course at Frank Liske Park in a time of 27:00.5 to earn All-Conference Second Team recognition. He is the highest Barton finisher in the league meet since Brian Fowler produced a top-five showing in 2002.
Winter, a senior from Brooklyn, N.Y., narrowly missed all-conference acclaim after posting a 19th-place finish with a mark of 28:24.4. Amerson, a junior from Wilson, trailed just three spots back in 22nd after a run of 28:49.1.
Also competing for the Bulldogs were Sebaston Barrett (49th, 31:04.6), Adam Pope (59th, 32:14.8), Luar Mercado Lopez (62nd, 33:07.6) and Leslie Jones (64th, 33:48.7).
Nationally-ranked University of Mount Olive claimed all six spots ahead of Lagat to dominate the meet with the best score possible, 15 points. King University was a distant second with 62 points, followed by Limestone College (113), Lees-McRae College (130) and North Greenville University (132).
Barton produced 139 points, well ahead of seventh-place Belmont Abbey College's 175. Rounding out the field were Pfeiffer University (205) and Erskine College (232).
Mount Olive's Eugenio Gil was the individual champion with a time of 26:06 flat.
Barton will compete in the 2015 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 7. The meet is slated for an 11:45 a.m. start at Wingate University.
