Lumberton, N.C. – The Francis Marion University men's and women's cross country squads placed sixth and ninth respectively at the 15th Peach Belt Conference Championship Meet, Saturday morning (Oct. 22) at Lumberton's Luther Britt Park.  FMU freshman Kelly May earned All-Conference recognition for her results at the meet.

The Columbus State University women and the Clayton State University men each captured their first-ever PBC team titles.

In the men's 8,000-meter race, Clayton State totaled 31 points to defeat UNC Pembroke (49), Columbus State (50), Georgia College & State University (98), North Georgia College & State University (114), and FMU (134).

Junior Patrick Hopewell led the Patriot men with a 22nd-place finish in a time of 28:41.71.  Other FMU finishers were Ariel Ortiz in 26th (29:25.88), Steven Holmes in 27th (29:32.28), Dan Brann in 31st (30:18.52), Steven Creek in 32nd (30:26.48), and Joshua Sears in 40th (33:02.78).

In the women's 5,000-meter race, Columbus State tallied 57 points, followed by UNCP (81), Clayton State (86), Lander University (89), USC Aiken (123), Augusta State University (127), North Georgia (145), GC&SU (172), and Francis Marion (188).

May placed 10th in a time 20:30.06 to earn a spot on the women's All-PBC Team. Other Francis Marion runners were Megan Coy in 35th (22:36.17), Codi Knoch in 40th (22:56.23), Laura Vona in 50th (24:32.49), and Sara Parry in 53rd (29:01.53).

North Georgia's Irina Watkins posted a time of 17:53 to win the women's individual championship. She is only the second woman to ever win two PBC titles and the only one to win in non-consecutive years. She took the 2002 title as a member of the Kennesaw State University squad. Clayton State's Bobby Valadez took the men's crown, overtaking Columbus State's Moses Kosgei in the final mile to finish with a time of 24:59.

Both FMU squads will compete in the NCAA Division II South Region Meet, Nov. 5 in Lakeland, Fla.