CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charleston Southern senior Jessie Dotson finished 53rd in a solid field of 324 runners to lead the Bucs at Friday's Royals Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Queens University.
Dotson crossed the finish line in 19:27.9 to pace CSU to a 26th-place finish as a team. The Bucs' senior leader has led assistant coach for distance and jumps Sirena Williams' squad in all but one race this year to date.
Junior Hannah Palm also delivered a strong effort, crossing the finish line in 19:44.5 for a 76th place showing. CSU sophomore Kaitlyn Keene finished in the top half of the field as well, completing the course in 20:49.2.
"The women ran really well today," Williams said afterward. "It's a fast, flat course just like we train on here in Charleston. "It's really a great course to run on. Jessie ran great and has really being come down, running 19:27 today. Hannah Palm really came down (with her time) as well and was really consistent with her mileage throughout."
Freshman Traci Drayton led a trio of first-year runners for the Bucs with a time of 24:11. Classmates Malaysia Reed and Emma Price also ran for CSU, with Reed running in 26:40.4.
"Traci and Malaysia both dropped significant time down, two to three minutes, so everyone ran really well and I'm looking forward to the next meet. We have one more meet before conference and we'll just continue to look to be consistent with how we're training and competing."
CSU returns to action next Friday, competing locally in Johns Island at the College of Charleston Classic.
