by Benny Benton
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Joel Lagat and Lashley Winter both established new 8K personal records, and Lagat earned a top-40 finish among 346 runners from all three NCAA divisions on Friday at the Royals XC Challenge.
Lagat, a sophomore from Kenya, posted a time of 25:47.4 to place 37th in the largest field of the season and improve his best time by nearly a minute. Winter shaved six seconds off his previous best at the 8K distance with a mark of 26:29.6 posted while finishing 85th in the field.
Junior Tyler Amerson nearly recorded a PR time as well, missing his mark by eight seconds. Amerson finished in the top half of the field with a time of 27:31.0, good for 145th.
The trio led Barton to a team finish of 22nd among 39 competitors with 641 points. The Bulldogs were fifth among the 10 Conference Carolinas teams taking part in the race. In addition to defeating five league opponents, Barton also beat three other Southeast Region teams and a pair of NCAA Division I programs.
Campbell University collected 59 points to edge University of Mount Olive (67 points) and Wake Forest University (76 points) for first place.
Sophomore Sebaston Barrett was fourth on the Barton squad with a mark of 29:52.6 which placed him 261st. He was followed by three teammates who all turned in their top times of the season: junior Adam Pope (276nd, 30:18.2); freshman Leslie Jones (295th, 31:22.4); and freshman Raekwon Fiddermon (304th, 31:42.3).
Barton will now have two weeks to prepare for the 2015 Conference Carolinas Championships, which will be once again run at Frank Liske Park in Concord, N.C. The meet is slated for Friday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m.
