4 Gaston College cross country runners set personal bests in final tune up before Region 10 championships

Gaston College's final tune up before next week's Region 10 championships was a success as all four runners finished with personal bests and the Rhinos competed in a talented field of mostly NCAA Division I runners on Saturday morning at Milliken Research Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

Sophomore Keirieonna Wilson (19 minutes, 30.5 seconds for 80th-place), freshman Lexi Birtwistle (20:28.9 for 117th), freshman Maddie Frank (21:07.9 for 140th) and sophomore Abbygale King (25:38.8 for 186th) all had their best times as Gaston College was without other runners and didn't have the necessary five participants for a team score.

"I could not be more proud of how the ladies ran today," Gaston College cross country coach Kody Kubbs said. "All four of our runners set career bests with their times at an incredibly competitive invitational.
"Today's performance is a testament to their hard work and dedication to their training routine. This was our final tune up before Region 10 next Saturday so it's definitely nice to go into the week feeling good about where our training has gotten us too.
"Now we gotta turn around and get ready for our biggest race of the year next Saturday."

Wilson has been the team's medalist in each meet in which she has competed in her two-year career.

"Obviously, Wilson continues to impress with dropping Gaston College record time down once again by another 36 seconds," Kubbs said. "She and the rest of the ladies are all running very strong right now.
"We're hopeful to be at full strength next Saturday and get our other three runners back in time for Region 10."

Gaston College has finished as Region 10 runner-up in each of the past two seasons but is the favorite to win this year's title when the meet is held next Saturday at the Cleveland Community College course in Shelby.