Jimeno narrowly misses school record at Upstate Invite

Saturday, October 14

Spartanburg, SC

9:45 a.m.

Jax State

Upstate Invitational

10/14/2023 7:19:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The next-to-last regular season meet of the season for Jacksonville State on Saturday was highlighted by junior Bethelhem Manzano Jimeno's near-record setting time.

The junior from Balsareny, Spain, turned in a 5K time of 17:41.7 to scored 12th overall in the highly-competitive Upstate Invite. The mark came within seconds of Jax State's women's 5K school record 17:36 set by Giselle Slotboom in 2011. Impressively, Jimeno isn't new to the runner-up spot on the Gamecocks all-time list as she also held the previous No. 2 time of 17:45 set during her freshman season in 2021.

Although the front runner, Jimeno's race was not the only success of the Gamecocks on Saturday. Sophomore Lindsay Fletcher continued her strong campaign with a time of 18:54.9 for Jax State's second scorer, followed by senior Sierra Wainer with a strong season-best 19:40.3. Anna Strickland and Juliana Ballew rounded out the Gamecock top five as Ballew clocked a new collegiate PR 21:09.2.

Collectively, Jax State's women scored a season-best average time of 19:34 and finished 18th overall in the 32-team field topping Wofford, The Citadel and host USC Upstate among others. The men matched the ladies with an 18th-place finish in the men's 8K race.

Sophomore Jack Lowe continued to pace the way with a 26:08.4 time to lead the way. He was followed by Steele Joiner (26:48) and Mason McMahon (28:08), who continue to improve through the season. Crossing the line as Jax State's fourth counter, J.R. Proctor turned in a new personal record of 27:40. Rounding out Jax State's top five, sophomore Kaden Harris returned to action from injury to clock a gutsy 27:53 time.

The Gamecocks complete the regular season next weekend in Florience, Ala., before preparing for the program's first CUSA Championship at the end of the month.

"