Fort Valley State University

Perhaps the only thing better than hosting your own cross country invitational is dominating it! That’s precisely what happened to the Wildcats in the Fort Valley State University (FSU) Cross Country Invitational. The dual meet was held on the FVSU campus earlier today, September 16, 2009 and the other participating schools included Paine and Miles Colleges. The Wildcat performance was outstanding.

For the women, the course was approximately 3.1 miles. Of the top six finishers in a field of 15, five wore the royal blue and old gold of FVSU. Wildcat freshman Latonya Payne bested all runners with a time of 16:56. And while second place went to Paine College, FVSU’s Nakela Jackson (18:56); Candis Gary (18:58); LaCreasha Brewton (19:53); and Zaneta McGhee (19:54) took the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth spots, respectively.

For the men, Wildcat dominance was even more pronounced. The five mile course around the FVSU grounds proved extremely favorable for the home team. Of the 20 participants in the race, the top five finishing spots went to FVSU runners. FVSU freshman Bsrat Gide finished atop the field with a time of 22:20. Juniors John Williams and Quartez Strickland finished with times of 24:49 and 26:03 to claim the third and fourth spots and Keon Melson’s time of 26:13 was good enough for solid finish in fifth place.

The Wildcats resume cross country action on Sat., September 19 as participants in the Darton Invitational in Albany, Ga.