Press Release Written by Assistant Athletic Director Erin Harvey
WILMINGTON, Del. - - Both the women's and men's cross country squads opened up the 2017 campaign in fine fashion, each winning their portion of the 17th Annual WUXC Invite on a soggy Saturday morning at Carousel Park.
The women started the season with the first gun of the morning, claiming 30 points to finish first among the five teams participating. Graduate student Rachel Jones lead the way with a second place showing. Her time of 21.03.39 was a personal record for the 5K distance. Junior Tara Langan was the second Wildcat to cross the line, running a time of 22:01.66 which was good for fifth place. Classmate Gabby Brown was right behind her in sixth place, finishing in 22:35.27.
The freshmen duo of Alexa Crowell and Julia Merritt were the next scorers for Wilmington, as they paced each other in their first collegiate event. Crowell crossed in a time of 22:49.55 which was good for eighth place, while Merritt placing ninth in a time of 22:56.23 to round out the scoring for the hosts. Credit to senior Nicole Brevoort who ran the entire race with one shoe, as she lost one of hers at the starting line. Even with one shoe, she ran an impressive 25:48.78 in tough conditions. Junior Tori Crawford wrapped up the Wildcats with a time of 28:48.56.
On the men's side, junior Mark Corrigan dominated the race from start to finish, finishing the 8K distance in 28:22.07. His time was 46 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Junior classmates Miguel Suero and Johnathan Avila paced each other and finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Suero finished in a time of 29:17.81, while Avila was close behind, crossing in 29:22.03.
Freshman Jake Puharic, in his first collegiate event, gave the Wildcats 6 points with his sixth place finish. The newcomer crossed the line in 29:51.33, while graduate student Korey Jeffries rounded out the scorers for the home team. His 10th place finish in a time of 30:55.02 seconds, gave the Wildcats a convincing 17 point victory. Redshirt sophomore Jayven Davis closed out the Wildcats on the course, finishing 27th overall in a time of 39:17.40.
Wilmington continues their 2017 season next Saturday as they head to the famous Belmont Plateau for the Philly Metro Invite. The race is scheduled to begin at 12:15 PM.
