Lions Place Second in Hyder-McMahill Invite

MONTREAT, N.C. -- Mars Hill's men's cross country team placed second in the Hyder-McMahill Invitational, hosted Saturday morning by Montreat College.

Lion runners earned 45 points to earn the best score for a South Atlantic Conference team in the race. Sophomore Alex Griggs turned in Mars Hill's best time, placing second overall and first among SAC runners in the race. Derek Gibson (6th) and Cesar Reyes (7th) also placed in the top 10 for MHU. Emmanuel College placed first with 21 points, led by individual medalist Leonel Ayala.

Griggs' time of 26:17.99 placed him three seconds behind Ayala. Gibson's sixth-place time was 26:37.58, with Reyes finishing just behind at 26:47.63.

Brady Adcock finished fourth among Lion runners and 11th overall with a time of 27:25.46. Freshman Nathan Jones placed among the Lions' top five for the first time in his MHU career, finishing in 27:57.69.

Kiel Bollero (23rd) and Carter Benge (28th) also turned in strong performances for Mars Hill. The top four MHU runners all fared better than the top runner from any other SAC school that competed in the race.

Mars Hill will compete in the Winthrop Invitational next Saturday, Sep. 21 at 9:00 a.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.