University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Fire Tower Open
Five Personal Bests Highlight Fire Tower Open
10.02.2026 | Cross Country
BOONE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville cross country teams put together competitive performances at the Fire Tower Open (Oct. 2), earning fifth place in the men's 8k (159 pts) and sixth place in the women's 6k (166 pts). Both teams outpaced Big South foes Winthrop and Gardner-Webb.
On the men's side, Bela Diettrich paced the Bulldogs with a 22nd-place finish in a personal best time of 25:01.6. Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland crossed the line seconds later, clocking a time of 25:08.7 to take 26th place. Setting a season best, Jan Málek was the next Bulldog to finish in 25:56.5 (47th).
Personal bests came from Jacoby Ennis, who set a new mark of 26:13.4 to take 52nd, and Evan Rounds, who clocked 26:23.5 to take 57th.
Lance Surles set a season best of 26:41.6 (63rd), followed by Macon Smith (27:05.5, 69th), Craig Webb (27:31.3, 81st), and Luke Vannoy (28:48.8, 100th).
Adela Kunerova secured a top-ten finish to pace Asheville on the women's side, clocking a new personal best of 21:28.0 to earn the tenth spot out of 108 competitors. Kunerova improved on her No. 3 spot in school record history. Next to finish was Aneta Kucerová with a season best of 22:25.6 (26th), followed by Isabel Richardson in 36th place (22:46.6).
Nikole Baikova secured the final top-fifty spot for Asheville, crossing the line in a personal best time of 23:22.5 (46th place). Following Baikova were Marika Dickel (23:38.9, 53rd), Ella Moore (24:02.9, 62nd), Riley Humphries (24:29.8, 69th), and Lauren Sochia (25:14.5, 81st).
Asheville returns to action on Oct. 16 at UVA Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia.
For full results from the Fire Tower Open, click HERE.
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