September 9, 2000

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Charlotte 49ers men's and women's cross country teams both earned victories at the 2000 Davidson Open held Saturday morning at Davidson College.

Charlotte's Naomi Wendland finished the 5K course in a time of 19:02 to earn the women's title while Charleston Southern's Lindsay MacPherson (19:20) and Carlajarie Costantini (19:35) finished second and third, respectively. Heather Lee of Campbell (19:54) and Davidson's Smyth Bitter (20:02) rounded our the top five for the women.

Laura Syracuse finished second for the 49ers and sixth overall with a time of 20:09. Jen Taylor was eighth after finishing the course in 20:24. Emily Wehr and Britt Ellis also scored for the Niners, finishing 13th and 15th overall, respectively.

Following Charlotte in the women's team title, there was a three-way tie with Campbell, Charleston Southern and Davidson. Elon finished in fifth place overall and North Carolina A&T was sixth.

Vince Sherry, who ran unattached, won the men's race, which covered 8K. His winning time was 26:19. Jan Dickinson of Charlotte was the top collegiate finisher in a time of 26:31. Rounding out the top five for the men were Ryan Richmond (Campbell, 26:42), Ed Schlichter (Charlotte, 27:04) and Dan Monroe (Charlotte, 27:23).

The 49ers' Pat Strothman was sixth overall with a time of 27:34. Mark Weems capped the Niners' score with a time of 27:43 to finish eighth.

Campbell took home another second place team finish in the men's division followed by Davidson, Elon and Wofford.

Next up for Charlotte is the Great American Cross Country Festival to be held at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, N.C. on September 22.