By Zack Ciboth, Sports Editor
Braves Cross Country Place Top 5 Finishes
The UNC Pembroke Men’s and Women’s cross country team competed this past Friday night in the UNG Invitational held in Dahlonega, GA. The mens team finished strong overall take a second place finish and the women’s side compelled together a fourth place finish to round out the race .
On the men’s side Jack Phieffer placed fifth with a time of (25:44.5) , Delsin Burkhart crossed at (26:48.4) for a 18th place finish, Norman Junker and Hunter Levy compelled 23rd and 24th place finishes with time of (27:18.0) and (27:23.5). Elisha Kipsang crossed (27:35.3) to follow behind with a 27th place finish for the Braves. In 33rd place was Will Clancey posting a time of (27:54.6) and Bryan Viera at 38th with a finish time of (28:11.3). Rounding out for UNCP were Christian Whiteside, Gabe Blackwelder, and Lucas Nervo placing 66th ,76th, and 88th respectively and posting times of (29:54.3), (31:39.5), and (38:13.0) respectively as well in the 8K run.
Jackline Kosgei finished strong in the 5K race for the women’s crossing at (18:25.3), Michela Gritti and Malta Bennewitz took 23rd and 32nd with times of (19:37.9) and (20:32.8).Karen Piro crossed at (21:17.8) to finish at 37th, Jacqueeta Moise placed 50th at (22:55.1) and Jazmine Lorenzo and Mariah Spencer rounded out the finishes at 54th and 56th with times of (23:38.7) and (23:46.2).
UNCP Cross Country will compete on September 30th in the Koala Invite held at the Par Tee Golf Center in Columbia, S.C. Times have yet to be announced.
Soccer vs Lees-McRae
The UNC Pembroke women’s soccer team used a second half surge to come from behind and take down the Lees-McRae Bobcats in Conference Carolina play. Down at the half the Braves scored twice and held on the last few minutes to take the 2-1 win on the road.
In the 30th minute the Bobcats struck first when Jordan Vaughn scored off an assist from Kat Stiles to make it 1-0 early Bobcats. That would be the score at the half as the defense would hold the Braves scoreless. In the second half the Braves answered in the 68th minute on a first career goal from Morgan Hill who fired a shot 30-yards out and found the back of the net. In the 76th minute Maria Cancio who also scored her first career goal off an assist from Anna Grossheim to give the Braves the lead 2-1 and the win.
Chiara Coppin the goalie for the Black and Gold recored two saves in the win and the Braves were able to outscore the Bobcats 15-4 on shots on goal.
The Braves (3-2,2-0-0 CC) will travel to Belmont Abbey (2-1-2, 0-0-1 CC) tomorrow night to continue Conference Carolina play with kickoff set for 7 p.m.