WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College cross country teams logged strong respective performances at the annual W&J Invitational. Both teams had runners win the top invitational slots in the two-team field. The W&J men took a first-place finish while the W&J women took second.
For the W&J women,
Maria Gilles (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) led the charge for the Presidents, taking first place with a time of 22:02.99. Gilles managed a seven-minute pace per mile in the team's first showing of the season. Sophomore
Genevieve Ruth (Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville Broadview Heights) finished right behind Gilles with a time of 22:17.82.
Tessa Hayes (Derry, Pa./Derry) and Chloe Locastro (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) finished back-to-back among the top finishers. Hayes logged a seventh-place finish with a time of 23:59.99 while LoCastro finished eighth with a time of 24:06.91. Wrapping up the runners for the women, freshman
Annie Daerr (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold) raced to an 11
th-place finish with a time of 28:02.27.
For the W&J men, the Presidents swept the top six individual spots and logged a total seven runners in the top 10.
The trio of
Julian Paul (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour),
Brock Pennington (North East, Pa./North East) and Dom Flitcraft (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) crossed the finish line at nearly the same time. Paul took first-place with a time of 18:26.70 followed by Pennington who took second with a mark of 18:26.88 and Flitcraft who finished third with a time of 18:26.95.
Quickly following the top-finishing trio was
Shaun Walker (Washington, Pa./Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter) who placed fourth, racing to a time of 18:57.13. Sophomore
Collin Helmick (Salem, Ohio/Salem) logged a fifth-place finish with a time of 19:08.69 followed behind by
Lorenzo Zeni (Monongahela, Pa./Ringgold) who ran to a 6:18 minute per mile pace to place sixth with a time of 19:33.37.
Rounding out the top-10 finishers for the Presidents was
Ramaniah Karamcheti (Washington, Pa./Washington) who paced his way to a 10
th-place finish with a mark of 19:54.77.
Both cross country teams will look to head to Slippery Rock Pa. next Saturday (Sept. 7) as they are lined up to compete at the Slippery Rock Invitational/PAC Preview.
