LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jacksonville State junior Bethelhem Manzano Jimeno stole the show for the Gamecocks at the Live in Lou Classic Saturday morning with her individual title run.
 
The Balsareny, Spain, native turned in the second-fastest 5K time of her career with an 18:06.4 to take the win by 30 seconds over second-place. Jimeno's efforts led the Gamecock women to a seventh-place finish as a squad among more than 50 other teams.
 
The Live in Lou Classic is such a massive event that multiple races are held to accommodate the large competition field. Jax State raced in the silver version of the women's 5K, while the men ran in the blue 8K race.
 
Jimeno led the women's race virtually from the start and was occupied in the top 10 for much of the race by teammate Lindsay Fletcher who eventually came home 11th out of the 400 competitors. Anna Strickland (20:34) continued her consistent season crossing the finish third for Jax State, followed by senior Sierra Wainer (21:07). Rounding our Jax State's top five was Juliana Ballew with a personal best 21:33 time.
 
Jimeno is the first Gamecock to claim an individual race title since she won her collegiate debut finishing first in the 2021 Foothills Invitational 4K race at Choccolocco Park.
 
On the men's side, Rodrigo Fraga paced the Gamecocks with a 26:03 in the competitive blue race. Jack Lowe followed Rodrigo with a 26:24 as the Gamecocks scored 30 th out of 49 teams in their respective event. Tanner Rice notched a new personal best time 26:30 as the third Gamecock finisher, followed by Steele Joiner and Mason McMahon.
 
First-year head coach Jeremy Provence feels Saturday was another step in the right direction and was happy with how the teams handled a big environment.
 
"There were a lot of teams, so the races were packed with individuals and the conditions were challenging with the heat, but they competed well, especially in the late stages of the race. Still missing some guys, and it wasn't perfect, but overall we got better."
 
"Beti ran from the front the entire race. It was great to see her get the win. Juliana had a great race too and closed the gap between 4-5. We'll need more of this the rest of the season."
 
The Gamecocks return to action in two weeks at the USC Upstate Classic in Spartanburg, S.C.