FMU signs Conway cross country runner

Francis Marion University cross country coach Mark Bluman has announced the signing of Sierra Young of Conway to a national letter of intent to attend FMU and run for the Patriot women this fall.
Young, 5-0, is a product of Conway and Loris high schools. She ran for three years at Loris before graduating from Conway this past spring.

For the Lions, she competed in both the 2006 and 2007 AA-A state meets, posting identical 25:29 times over the 5,000-meter course.

“The recruitment of Young is a testament to the program we have at FMU,” said Bluman. “As a freshman, she attended Loris High School and was a teammate of current FMU runners Kim Richardson and Holly Todd. Obviously she has noticed the success and fun that they are having at Francis Marion and she wanted to be a part of that.

“Young is a second generation runner as her father is also a distance runner. As a daughter of runner, she comes in with a great level of maturity. This maturity will contribute to her success here at FMU. I look forward to working with her. She comes to Florence well prepared to handle the demands of competing at the next level.”

Francis Marion loses only one senior from its 2008 women’s squad that placed ninth at the Peach Belt Conference Championship Meet and 20th at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Meet.