On a tough, hilly course, the Golden Tigers finished with eight runners in the top 20. Leading the pack, junior Brittany Aikens (Braselton) finished in first place with a time of 20 minutes, 56 seconds. Utami Ketchem (Flowery Branch) and Sarah Saenz (Lawrenceville) finished in fifth and seventh place, respectively, while, Deishane' Honeycutt (Stone Mountain) finished in eighth place with a personal record of 21.44.
Freshman Natalie Williams (Dalton) took 13th place with a time of 22:03; senior Ana Lopera (Flowery Branch) finished in 15th place with a time of 22:19; and Jasmine Ray (Appling) finished in 18th place in 22:30.
A pair of freshman-Aunica Clinton (Buford) and Monica Nwajei (Dunwoody) both set personal records on the difficult course.
The Golden Tigers (34 points) finished 51 points ahead of second place Southern Wesleyan (SC) University (85 points).
"The team is working hard together in the race bringing our individual finishing places closer together giving us a low score," said head coach Susan McIntyre. "Today we scored 34 points as a team, 51 points ahead of second place. This is the lowest number we have ever scored. We need to keep training hard and try not to have any more injuries. Coach Sean Robison and I are very proud of this hardworking team."
The Golden Tigers next compete on Oct. 11 when they travel to West Point (Ga.) to race at the Point University Invitational.
Members of the Benau University cross country team have helped the Golden Tigers to a strong start in 2013.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/9/266205