Freshmen leading the charge for Gaston College entering 3rd cross country meet of the season in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday

A pair of freshman runners have led Gaston College's women's cross country team early this season as the Rhinos prepare for their third meet of the season on Saturday at Columbia, S.C.

Keirionna Wilson and Abigail Presley have finished 1-2 for Gaston College in each of the Rhinos' two previous meets, with Wilson setting a school record for best time.

Gaston College coach Kody Kubbs recruited both runners out of nearby high schools - Wilson from South Iredell in Statesville and Presley from East Lincoln in Denver.

"She was a very strong runner in high school who ran cross country, indoor track and outdoor track," Kubbs said of Wilson. "Her distance was her strength so I'm really not surprised by what she's doing. She puts in the effort at practice every day and is a very serious runner."

In Wilson's debut in the Sept. 16 Pfeiffer Invitational, she bettered her personal best of 21:38 with a 21:31.1 time that also was a Gaston College-best in addition to becoming the school's first regular season medalist with a sixth place overall finish. Wilson then bettered her personal best with a 21:24.5 clocking at last Saturday's Yetis Invitational at Shelby's Cleveland Community College for an eighth place overall finish.

"I talked to her about her goals coming into this season and she wanted to beat her PR and she's now done that twice," Kubbs said. "She's just a super competitive kid."

For her part, Wilson and her teammates were happy last week to get a preparation race at the venue that will host Region 10 championships on Oct. 28.

"I feel like it was a strong run," Wilson said. "We have a strong team that is confident. It was a lot of hills, bouncy, twisting and turning, a good mix of what you expect in a cross country meet. I feel very good about the team."

Presley ran a 27:28.0 to finish 32nd at Pfeiffer and followed up with a 26:10.9 time to finish 27th at Cleveland Community College.

"She knows what it takes to be successful," Kubbs said. "She's improved her PR (at Gaston College) by more than a minute and she's just getting more and more confident with every week. She's got a very high ceiling."

Said Presley after last Saturday's race: "It went pretty good. It was a nice course with a lot of rolling hills. You just carry your speed over and makes it easier to go through and just save your energy."

Three other Gaston College runners also improved from the Sept. 16 opener to last week's race - sophomore Stefani Vergara-Delgado (27:33.3 to 27:00.4) and freshmen Abbygale King (29:16.7 to 29:05.2) and Abigale Harris (30:22.4 to 30:16.4).

"I was happy with how we performed," Kubbs said. "It was the second race of the year and the second time some of these girls have ever run... It was a lot different from the course we ran last week, but the times were good. We were running against some good competition, and it pushes us to run against the best."