Cross Country Takes 1st and 3rd at Belhaven Invitational

Teamwork was the theme of a successful meet for the Choctaw runners.

The Mississippi College cross country team competed at home in the Belhaven Invitational on Saturday, October 5th. The women’s team placed third, behind Berry University and West Florida. The men’s team secured first, placing six points over Berry.

Braedon Methvin, Cooper Parmer, Preston Speed, and Christian Balcer finished in the seventh to tenth place spots, within just nine seconds of each other. Methvin led the group with a time of 25:40. Rounding out the Choctaws’ scoring group in eleventh place was Carson Smith with a time of 26:15. The leading time was 24:53 by Zach Fenton, a senior from West Florida University. 

Caroline Dooling, Sidney Stegall, and Shana Sellers after running in the Belhaven Invitational on Saturday, October 5th. (Photo Credit: Elena Roberts)

Not only was the Belhaven Invitational Methvin’s first 8k of the season, it was also the first time he had raced in almost a month. Methvin described that the team started strong but faced challenges in the middle of the race. However, once they regrouped, they were able to advance and finish strongly. 

Methvin credits some of the team’s success to its unity. “For us, realizing there is a difference between running with someone and running near someone is important,” Methvin said. “Running with somebody is when you're grouped up and encouraging one another. Just running by someone is the same thing you do if you're next to a competitor.” 

Methvin described this team to be one of the best the Choctaws have ever had. He is focused, though, on taking the things that went right and building on them. “We just need to keep putting the pieces together,” Methvin said. 

For the Lady Choctaws, Shana Sellers placed second in the meet. Ava Wardlaw and Kinley Harris placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Caroline Dooling and Katherine Neal rounded out the team, placing sixteenth and twenty-seventh. 

Sellers is proud of the team’s performance, emphasizing its close-knit culture. “We have a good culture of teamwork around here, and we bring God into that,” she said. “We continue building that and making that strong, and that’s all we need.”

“I’m most excited having these girls around me and doing it well with them,” Sellers said.

The Choctaws will be competing again on Saturday, October 12th in Huntsville, Alabama at the UAH Charger Invitational.