LUMBERTON, NC - Paced by freshman Ben Miller, the Francis Marion University men's cross country team placed second at the 36th-annual UNC Pembroke Cross Country Invitational Meet.  The FMU women finished fourth in the opening race.

Miller toured the 6,000-meter course in 20:55.81.  He was followed by Steven Holmes (21:11.50) in 11th place, Dan Brann (21:21.64) in 12th, Jerry Roth (21:53.77) in 18th, Caleb Welch (22:19.58) in 21st, Ariel Ortiz (23:16.47) in 25th, Chris Rice (25:34.41) in 37th, Kyle Green (25:50.44) in 39th, and TJ Simmons (26:57.34) in 43rd position.

North Carolina Central University, a school transitioning to Division I, edged the Patriots for the team title by a 51-68 score.

NCCU also won the women's team crown with 45 points, while Francis Marion was fourth with a 95 team score.

Senior Codi Knoch led the Patriots with a ninth-place finish in a time of 17:18.63 over the 4,000-meter course.  Emma Dooley finished 19th with a time of 18:54.80, followed by Amanda Doyle (19:00.23) in 20th, Kim Richardson (19:08.92) in 23rd, and Holly Todd (19:54.32) in 29th place. 

The Patriot squads will run in the Broughton Invitational in Marietta, Ohio, on Saturday.