The N.C. A&T men’s cross country team overcame rain and frigid temperatures to finish second in the 8k MEAC Cross Country Championships.

On Nov. 1, the men finished with a score of 67, beaten only by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, which finished a low score of 45 points, at the Delaware State University Outreach and Research Center.

The N.C. A&T women’s cross country team finished 10th with 277 points.

“On the men’s side, we wanted to win, that was the plan,” said Duane Ross, director of track and field programs. “We knew Maryland Eastern Shore was going to be a little tough. I think we ran well. I think we’ve had some competitions during the season where we did better as a team.”

The men were led by Darren White with a seventh-place finish at 27:47.70, followed by Perry Cabean in eighth (27:47.80) and Saeed Jones in ninth (27:55). The top three Aggies were followed by freshmen Steve Stowe, who finished 18th in 28:40; David Conner, 25th (29:19); and Corey Aiken, 26th (29:20).

“I think today the gap between our top-three and fourth and fifth runners hurt us, but those guys are young,” said Ross. “We have to continue to improve on that, but those guys that finished fourth, fifth and sixth for us are freshmen and they are middle distance runners too.”

Miranda Green led the Aggie women with a time of 20:31 to finish 27th. Sophomore Daniqua Dye was 28th (20:32) and freshman Imani Coleman rounded out the Aggies’ top runners by finishing 30th (20:43).

“I think our women competed pretty hard,’ Ross said. “Obviously, we had higher expectations for our finish as a team.

“Individually, I think they did well. As a staff, we’re still steadily building the women’s program. We need to get some true distance runners in here. I think according to what we are working with, Imani and Miranda, who are middle distant runners, stepped up and ran cross country. They did quite well, so I think we’re on the right track.”