by Benny Benton
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Barton College men's cross country team finished third out of four teams in the inaugural meet of the 2018 season, the Mount Olive Twilight.
Barton, with 86 points, trailed nationally-ranked No. 12 University of Mount Olive (25 points) and regionally-ranked No. 9 UNC Pembroke (36 points), but finished ahead of fourth-place Chowan University (111 points).
Freshman Deshawn Owens led the Bulldogs, placing 20th following a time of 28:55.7 on the 8K course. Another freshman, Timothy DeVore, finished 24th for Barton with a mark of 30:02.2, and redshirt freshman Nicholas Leek followed in 25th with an effort of 30:08.5.
Returnees Alex Kelly (27th, 30:29.6) and Leslie Jones (30th, 33:54.2) contributed the final counting scores for Barton. Freshman Eduardo Castellanos finished one spot behind Jones in 31st in his collegiate debut with a mark of 34:31.2.
Silus Kipkoech and Logan Ward gave UNC Pembroke a 1-2 finish at the top of the race, but Mount Olive captured the next 11 places in winning the meet.
Barton will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Monarch XC Classic, hosted by Methodist University in Fayetteville.
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