Salem, VA – Virginia State University brought home a bronze medal from the 2021 CIAA Cross Country Championships in Salem, Virginia.

The Trojans earned 63 points while the first place finishers in Fayetteville State University finished with 56 and the Rams of Winston-Salem State University came in second place with 59 points. The team finished in 1:47.50 with an average of 21:34 per runner. VSU was the only institution to have all of its runners finish within the top-25.

Kyera Frank was the first Trojan to cross the finish line posting a 20:56.1 with a 6:43.9 mile split, which allowed her to finish with a bronze medal in the afternoon.

Alandina Hyppolite finished not even three seconds behind Frank, as Hyppolite was able to stroll in at 20:59.7 with a 6:45.0 mile split, which landed her in fourth place and gave her a new personal-best.

 Next came Manuela Deigh posting a personal best 21:53.2, which placed her 17^th while Ruby Williams also set a new personal record, which placed her a place behind Deigh with a 21:59.0 run that shattered her previous personal best by over a minute.

Jordan Burzynski posted her best time of the season with a 22:01.3 finish that allowed her to stride through the line in 20^th place.  

Finishing a place away in 22^nd place was Jada Harris who was just 11 seconds away from her personal best finishing in 22:14.0.

Rounding the race out for the Trojans was Manuelene Deigh who finished 25^rd of 61 competitors posting a 22:30.2 which gave the Trojans their final personal best of the cross-country season.
The Trojans look to maintain their winning streak for the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons.

 
Final Team Standings
 

1.  Fayetteville State 56
2.  Winston-Salem State 59
3.  Virginia State 63
4.  Shaw 93
5.  Claflin 132
6. Lincoln (Pa.) 158
7.  Livingstone 176
8.  Johnson C. Smith 229
9.  Bowie State 243
10. Virginia Union 256