For the first time in the history of the programs, GMC JC Men's and Women's Cross Country both appeared in the NJCAA National Rankings Top 5 at the same time.
In the week 2 rankings, the GMC Women's team held firm at #3 after a solid performance at the Brickyard Invitational and, most recently, in a dual meet with vs. Middle Georgia State University. Freshman Nicquelette Fazekas coming off a 20:23 and a 1st place in the MGSU race continues to be impressive while Paige White finished in 2nd with 21:39. Fazekas and White have consistently been the fastest runners for the Bulldogs. Treeaunna Whiting ran a 24:06 and took 5th place in the MGSU race, becoming the third Bulldog to qualify for the NJCAA National Championships this season. Vanessa Alvarez (Naples, FL) just missed qualifying for the National Championship and finished 6th place. Rounding out the scoring for GMC was Stephanie Trejo (Cape Coral, FL). Coach Sherwood commented, "This was a really good race for us. All of the women ran well, and many had their season's best race."
The Men's team moved from #6 to #5, despite their top runners still returning from injury. A strong performance in a solo race after Reinhardt University had to pull out of last-minute showed what these men are capable of; Heath McDonald (Bogart, GA) won the race with a time of 29:56. Daniel Turnipseed (Blythwood, SC) finished in 2nd place with at of 30:41. Jacob Cain (Brandon, FL) finished in 3rd with a time of 31:30. Turnipseed and Cain joined McDonald as they qualified for the NJCAA National Championship. Jesse Booth (McDonough, GA) ran a 31:47, and Bo Meadors (Plymouth, IN) ran a 31:55 to round out the top 5. "The men have been working hard and were rewarded tonight, I am proud for what they achieved," Coach Sherwood explained.
Both teams will run on October 14th at South Georgia State College in Douglas, GA.
