Bayless, Braves Post Personal Bests at GACC Invitational

CARY – The 8K Race of Champions brought out the best in sophomore Zachary Bayless and his fellow Braves as the UNCP Men’s Cross Country team, paced by freshman Pardon Ndhlovu, brought home seventh place honors out of 13 combined Division I and Division II schools, including top honors among fellow Division II squads at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Friday evening.

Ndhlovu, who has been unchallenged in winning each of his first three collegiate meets, met some competition on Friday evening when he finished first for the Braves and fourth overall in 24:35. The newcomer’s time shattered a 22-year old school record held by former Brave Jay Jones who booked an 8K time of 24:45 in 1987. Ndhlovu finished 18 seconds behind third place Josh Lund of Duke.

Coming in second for the Braves and 51st overall with a time of 26:23, Bayless recorded a personal best when he dropped more than 1:30 off his previous best (27:39) at the East Carolina Invitational on September 19.

Rounding out the top three for the Braves were freshmen Steven Merritt (73rd overall, 27:20) and Kevin Clancy (74th overall, 27:20), both of whom also recorded personal bests at the invitational. Merritt, who ran a 27:56 at the East Carolina Invitational, captured his personal best of the season by more than 30 seconds on Friday evening while Clancy broke his previous time of 28:59 by more than 1:30.

Other notable performances from the Braves came from freshmen Daniel Yeakley, Cedric Wilson and Thomas McDonough who finished 81st, 84th and 88th respectively. Yeakley was able to break his previous time of 28:17 set at the UNCP Invitational by more than 30 seconds, posting a 27:41 Friday evening while Wilson followed close behind in 27:45; dropping 31 seconds of his East Carolina Invitational time of 28:17. McDonough was able to crush his previous UNCP Invitational run of 29:04 by nearly a minute, finishing Friday evening in 28:07.

UNCP finished 13 points ahead of Winston-Salem State, but did not have enough to catch sixth place Campbell who registered just 200 points. Duke was led by Lund and Michael Moverman to take home first place honors with 41 points.

UNCP RESULTS
- Pardon Ndhlovu (4th, 24:35) 
- Zachary Bayless (51st, 26:23) 
- Steven Merritt (73rd, 27:20)   
- Kevin Clancy (74th, 27:20) 
- Daniel Yeakley (81st, 27:41) 
- Cedric Wilson (84th, 27:45)
- Christian Wiscovitch (85th, 27:47)
- Thomas McDonough (88th, 28:07)
- Darius Brantley (95th, 28:31)
- Chris Midgette (110th, 29:51)