by Benny Benton
WINGATE, N.C. – Barton College senior Sharon Kiptoo, the reigning Conference Carolinas Women's Runner of the Week, turned in another outstanding effort on Saturday with a 10th place finish in the 132-runner field at the Bulldog Stampede.
The event, which served as a preview of the Wingate XC Facility course on which the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional will be run in November, featured the largest, deepest field of the year. Kiptoo, a resident of Eldoret, Kenya, cracked the top 10 of that talented field with a 6K run of 24:23.3.
As a team, Barton placed 14th out of 19 programs overall, and was fifth among seven Conference Carolinas teams taking part in the race.
Sophomore Meghan Araldi was the second finisher for the Lady Bulldogs, placing 72nd with a time of 27:29.2 in the first 6K run of her BC career. Senior Judith Melly ranked 101st with a mark of 30:41.15, freshman Brooke Lonergan ranked 110th with her first 6K effort of 31:39.19, and freshman Andrea Mills stood 131st with her first 6K run of 41:13.15.
Host Wingate University captured the team title over Augusta University and Georgia College. Katherine Yost of Georgia College was the top individual finisher with a time of 22:25.39.
Barton will return to the Charlotte area next weekend to take part in the Royals Cross Country Challenge, the team's final race before the Conference Carolinas Championship on October 21.
