Wilmington Cross Country Teams Prepare for CACC Championship with Great Showings at Jack Saint Clair Memorial Championship

Wilmington Cross Country Teams Prepare for CACC Championship with Great Showings at Jack Saint Clair Memorial Championship

Copyright 2015; Wilmington University. File photo of Miguel Suero during the WUXC by Frank Stallworth. 

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University cross country teams both performed well at the Jack Saint Clair Memorial Cross Country Championship on Saturday, as the men won the 8K event and the women placed sixth overall in the 6K event on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park.

The men's squad topped 18 teams in the 8K event, earning 55 team points to beat Temple by 33 points. The Wildcats also defeated eight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference teams that were in the field.

The women's squad places sixth out of 16 teams, earning 154 points overall. The Wildcats only trailed Philadelphia, Georgian Court, and USciences among the CACC teams present in the Championship.

The men were led by Ken Fontal's second place finish, only trailing CACC foe Booray Adam Nour from Dominican by 13 seconds. Fontal ran at a 5:35 mile pace to finish in 27:43.8. Miguel Suero was the first freshman to cross the line, coming in seventh overall with a time of 29:06.5.

Twin brother Manuel Suero was the third Wildcat finisher, earning 13 points with a time of 29:38.1. Sophomore Andrew Milham ran at a 6:00 minute mile pace and crossed the line in 29:47.9, coming in 16th place. Freshman Ryan Wilson rounded out the Wildcats scoring with a 17th place finish, crossing the line in 29:52.3.

On the women's side, senior Megan Ferrick was the first CACC finisher, placing third overall with a 24:38.1 time. She ran the 6K race with a 6:37 mile pace. Junior Rachel Jones gave the Wildcats 30 points with a time of 26:30.9. Freshman Tori Vickers was right behind Jones for the Wildcats, placing 32nd overall with a time of 26:33.6.

Senior Bailey Brooks was the fourth scorer for the Wildcats, placing 54th overall for 44 points in a time of 27:21.8. Junior Christine Czajkowski was the final Wildcat scorer, placing 56th overall for 45 points with a time of 27:39.7.

Philadelphia led the women's race with 42 points followed by St. Thomas Aquinas with 70 points. Georgian Court was third with 95 points followed by the Greater Philadelphia Track Company in fourth with 95 points. USciences finished just ahead of Wilmington with 151 points.

The Jack Saint Clair Championship was essentially a CACC Championship preview, as the CACC Championship will also be run on Belmont Plateau in a few weeks. The Wildcats will have two weeks to prepare for the conference championships, which will be run on Sunday, October 25.