On an extremely difficult course in Maryville, TN the Piedmont College men and women's cross country teams competed in the Great South Athletic Conference Pre-Conference Invitational hosted by Maryville College. PC's MICHAEL FIDERO was crowned the men's individual champion while the Lady Lion team finished in sixth place in the seven team field.

Fidero became the first cross country runner to win an invitational in school's history. The sophomore broke the tape in an 8K time of 29:43, 14 seconds ahead of the field. MATT COLLINS also ran an impressive race finishing with a time of 32:37, good enough for a ninth place finish.

On the women's side JENNIFER GATHERCOAL ran a 6K time of 30:42 to finish 10th out of the 54-runner field. LISA JENNINGS and EMILY WOODWARD followed with times of 33:23 and 35:10 respectively. Rounding out the squad was STEFANIE GARRETT with a time of 36:44.

The cross country teams will return to action again on Saturday, October 4th as they travel to the Erskine College Invitational in Due West, SC beginning at 10:00.