BETHANY, W. Va. – The Washington & Jefferson College cross country teams completed their first action of 2025 at the West Liberty Invitational. The women finished 2^nd in the 5k race while the men took 5^th place in the 6k course.
 
Claire Anderson (Jamestown, Pa./Jamestown) led the charge for the W&J women with a second-place finish, racing to a time of 18:18.5. Anderson was only bested by a runner from Division II Point Park. She was accompanied by Maria Gilles (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) who finished eighth with a time of 19:27.8 in the top 10. The trio of Chloe LoCastro (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township), Cali LaRue (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and Emily Frankovich (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) all finished seconds apart from each other to cap the top five for W&J in 18^th, 19^th and 21^st, respectively.
 
For the W&J men, Dominic Flitcraft (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) headed the Presidents' efforts with a fifth-place finish and a time of 19:15.1. Freshman Jacob Derry (Canonsburg, Pa./Corry Area) finished in the top 10 as well with an eight-place finish with a time of 19:28.2. Wyatt Stroup (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) worked his way to an 18^th-place mark with a time of 19:48.5.
 
Following an encouraging showing to open the 2025 season, the Presidents are now set to travel to Newville, Pa. to compete in the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 27). The meet is scheduled for a 10:30 start.