Oct. 13, 2007

GREENVILLE, S.C. - USC Upstate freshman women's cross country runner Emily Tangwar continued her impressive season Saturday at the Furman Invitational at the Furman University Golf Course, scoring a fourth place finish out of 177 runners in the women's 5k run at a time of 18:22 for her fifth top 10 finish in as many meets this season.

Tangwar placed better than the runners from Atlantic Sun Conference rivals East Tennessee State and North Florida, which boasts two-time A-Sun runner of the week Amanda Davey. Stephanie Place of Tennessee Tech won the race at 17:50.

"There was a lot of competition out there today, and (Emily) had an awesome performance," USC Upstate cross country coach Jimmy Stephens said. "She keeps getting better and better each time she runs."

The USC Upstate women's cross country team made some strides led by Tangwar's run, finishing 15th in the team standings. Freshman Kim Brasil, in her first meet of the season, was the second-highest Spartan finisher with a time of 21:49. Junior Maria Ruvalcaba Trigueros was the third-highest finisher followed by senior Jamie Young fourth and another runner in her first meet, junior Maria Herrera fifth.

"The girls did a great job," USC Upstate assistant cross country coach Ed Schlichter said. "We had some newcomers run very well for us including Kim and Maria (Herrera), who cracked the top five."

On the men's side, Upstate finished 16th in the team standings led by freshman Matt Henderson, who was the highest Spartan finisher at 86th place in the 8k race with a time of 28:57. Freshman Drew Goode was the second-highest Upstate finisher followed by junior Brent Durden third, freshman Conrad Coeringer fourth, and freshman Chuck King fifth. Kenneth Rotich of East Tennessee State was the winner at a time of 25:55.

"It was a tough day for the guys," Stephens said. "They were a little banged up coming into the meet."

"Our men understand that they are much better than they were today. They have practiced like animals and can run with anyone when they are capable," Schlichter said.

Upstate will now shift its focus to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, which will be held on Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tenn.