Wilmington Cross Country Opens 2015 With the 15th Annual WUXC Invite; Men Win It All While Women Place Fourth

Wilmington Cross Country Opens 2015 With the 15th Annual WUXC Invite; Men Win It All While Women Place Fourth

WILMINGTON, Del. - - Opening the season with their lone home event, the Wilmington University cross country teams were led by Kevin McLaughlin and Megan Ferrick at the WUXC Invitational at Carousel Park on Saturday morning.

McLaughlin paced the men's team to a first place finish by earning medalist honors in the 8K event while Ferrick finished third overall in the women's 5K event to lead the team to a fourth place finish.

The women began the 15th Annual WUXC Invite on Saturday morning and the Wildcats raced to a fourth place finish, out of seven teams, with 84 points. Ferrick ran the event in 21:31.20 for three points. Freshman Tori Vickers finished 16th overall in 23:22.43 while senior Bailey Brooks placed 21st overall in a time of 23:47.66.

Junior Rachel Jones finished 22nd overall in a time of 24:09.21 while junior Christina Czajkowski rounded out the Wildcats' scoring with a 24th place finish in a time of 24:10.70. Senior Morgan Ferrick finished 32nd overall in 26:00.43 while Tori Crawford completed the women's team with a 43rd place finish in 28:18.76.

Georgian Court won the women's meet for the second year in a row, tallying a low 41 points, including the individual winner in Jessica Handsaker. She beat the field of 51 runners in 20:52.07.

On the men's side, the Wildcats had eight of the top 15 finishers overall, including all five scorers in the Top-10. McLaughlin paced the field of 50 runners in the 8K event in 28:57.16, over 32 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

Freshman Johnathan Avila was the second Wildcat finisher, placing fourth overall in a time of 29:56.99 while classmate Miguel Suero finished seventh overall in 31:02.83. Fellow freshman Ryan Wilson placed eighth overall in 31:22.27 while sophomore Andrew Milham rounded out the scorers with a 10th place finish in a time of 31:27.26.

Freshman Manuel Suero placed 12th overall with a time of 31:39.66 while senior Quinn Marvel placed 14th overall in 31:53.33. Newcomer and junior Logan Brady placed 15th overall in his first race as a Wildcat, finishing in 32:01.78. Freshman Amani McMullen-Woolfolk was the final Wildcat to cross the line, finishing 39th overall in 41:29.47.

The Wildcats used 27 points to beat the field of seven teams, defeating Bloomfield who finished second with 51 points.

The Wildcats are back in action next Saturday as they remain in the First State for another meet. The teams will compete at the University of Delaware Invite #1 on Saturday, September 12 at White Clay Creek State Park in Newark.