CARY, N.C. – The Virginia Union University men's cross-country team earned a fifth place finish out of 13 schools at the HBCU Challenge on Friday, October 3, highlighted by strong medal-winning performances from freshman Rodgers Korir and freshman Darryl Hawkins.

Korir placed fifth overall with a time of 25:06.9 in the men's 8K, while Hawkins finished 12th overall in 26:29.6. Freshman Keon Koonce added a 22nd-place finish (27:26.9), followed by freshman Jonathan Holton in 40th (30:39.3) and sophomore Chase Burke in 47th (31:50.9) to round out VUU's top five.

As a team, the Panthers posted a total score of 126 points, marking the third consecutive year VUU has finished fifth at the event.

"Congratulations to Rodgers Korir and Darryl Hawkins for earning medals at the HBCU meet," said VUU Head Cross-Country Coach Franck Charles. "The men's team secured 5th place for the third consecutive year, with outstanding performances from Rodgers and Darryl. Every member of our team achieved personal-best times at the meet. While finishing 5th out of 13 schools isn't our ultimate goal, it reflects our competitive spirit, especially considering that only one of the four teams ahead of us is from our conference and Division II. We have challenges ahead, but I have unwavering confidence in this team!"

The Panthers will now turn their attention to the VSU Cross Country Challenge, scheduled for Friday, October 10, at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.