Lady Bisons Achieve Historic Finish at UT Tyler Cross Country Open

TYLER, Texas - The Harding women's cross-country team made history with a third-place finish at the UT Tyler Cross Country Open, posting a total time of 1:46:29 and an average time of 21:17 in the 5K event. With 86 points, the Lady Bisons trailed only host UT Tyler (37 points) and Stephen F. Austin (84 points).

This marked Harding's highest finish in six meets in Texas, surpassing their previous best of fourth place in each of their last four meets in the state.

Josie Parks led the charge, finishing third overall with a time of 20:00.8. Rounding out the top five for Harding were Dinah Winders (12th, 20:41.3), Molly Fantauzzo (20th, 21:26.5), Natalie Sollors (23rd, 21:57.0), and Abigail Penick (28th, 22:24.4).

Other notable finishers for Harding included Emily Driskill (31st, 22:50.9), Amy Stewart (41st, 23:43.4), and Audri Aaron (55th, 24:27.3).

Parks, a Columbia, Tennessee native, became Harding's top finisher for the first time in her 12 career races, also securing her second career top-10 finish. Her performance marked the first time a Lady Bison has finished in the top three at a cross-country meet in Texas since Cheri Scharff placed third at the NAIA Regional in Irving in 1996.

The Lady Bisons will look to build on this momentum when they host the Steve Guymon Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13 at 5:45 p.m. at the Harding Cross-Country Course.

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Players Mentioned

Audri Aaron: 5' 3"; Junior

Josie Parks: 5' 7"; Junior

Amy Stewart: 5' 4"; Junior

Dinah Winders: 5' 7"; Junior

Emily Driskill: 5' 4"; Freshman

Molly Fantauzzo: 5' 5"; Freshman

Abigail Penick: Freshman

Natalie Sollors: 5' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Audri Aaron
: 5' 3"; Junior

Josie Parks
: 5' 7"; Junior

Amy Stewart
: 5' 4"; Junior

Dinah Winders
: 5' 7"; Junior

Emily Driskill
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Molly Fantauzzo
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Abigail Penick
: Freshman

Natalie Sollors
: 5' 2"; Freshman