ASHEVILLE – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's cross country teams finished their first trip to the Asheville Cross Country Invitational Saturday morning with several new personal records being set.
Having never seen the terrain, Perry Cabean, the assistant track and field coach who oversees the cross country program said the conditions and the grounds were even better than he anticipated.
In the 8k men's event, the Aggies finished third with 90 points and total time of 2:15.03. Western Carolina won the meet with 45 points, while host UNC Asheville finished second with 59 points. The women completed the 5k and finished fourth with 122 points behind UNC Asheville (23 pts), Western Carolina (42 pts) and Wofford (77 pts).
Darren White was superb on Saturday. White destroyed his previous personal best by finishing second in 25:32. He beat his previous mark by almost a minute. It was White's highest placement of the season. Freshman teammate Hakeem Mustafaa also had a big day by finishing fourth in 25:39 for a fourth-place finish. The Aggies two sub 26-minute runners marked the first time the program has accomplished that feat. Also placing in the top 10 was senior Perry Cabean (26:28) who finished ninth.
“I'm pleased with the efforts today but I'm not satisfied,” said Cabean. “I probably won't be satisfied until everyone can run a perfect race at the same time.”
Leading the women was freshman Helen Griffith who finished 16th and managed to run a personal-best 19:33. Also setting a new personal best was freshman Estela Smith who finished 19th and ran the course in 19:38.
“I liked the way the women ran today,” said Cabean. “I wish [sophomore Miranda Greene] was healthy today because we may have had a chance to move up a place.”
In two weeks the Aggies will go to Cary, N.C., to compete in the HBCU Challenge, a meet they have won the last two years.
