SALISBURY, Md. - - The Wilmington University cross country teams competed at the famed 31st Annual Don Cathcart Invitational on Saturday, with the men finishing second and the women finishing sixth at the Winter Park Place event.
The men collected 65 points to finish second overall out of 15 teams while the women earned 163 points to finish sixth out of 14 teams overall.
The women were up first on the 6K trail, and the Wildcats were led by sophomore Grace Slate's 22nd place finish. She finished the meet in 23:30.01 and was followed by freshman Annabel Cortez's 24th place finish with a time of 23:32.44. Julia Merritt wasn't far behind her teammates in 31st place, finishing the race in 23:49.87.
Allyson Kelly was the fourth scorer for the Wildcats, finishing 46th overall but earned 40 points with a time of 24:53.96. Emily Kockott rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats with a 56th place finish for 46 points, running the 6K course in 25:43.72.
Nicole Harris was also on the course for the Wildcats, as the freshman finished 74th overall with a time of 27:12.00. Nicole Hood finished 80th overall with a time of 28:04.58 while Abby McCully was the final Wildcat on the course with an 84th place finish and a time of 28:29.15.
Stevenson won the meet with a total of 47 points while Bloomsburg was second overall with 58 point. Host Salisbury rounded out the podium with 68 points in third place. Stevenson's Emily Gates earned medalist honors with a winning time of 21:22.26, over 35 seconds ahead of the field.
The men were led by sophomore Garrett Checchi's seventh place finish, as he completed the 8K course in 25:48.73. Brandon Cruz was two spots behind his teammate, running the course in 26:00.69 for a ninth place finish. Michael Dowd placed 15th overall with a time of 26:17.95 while freshman Shannon Dooley was right on his heels with a 16th place finish in 26:18.30. Will Rehrig was the final scorer for the Wildcats, finishing 18th overall with a time of 26:22.73.
James Kennedy was out-kicked by Rehrig to finish just outside the team scorers, but finishesh 19th overall with a time of 26:23.18 to finish a group of Wildcats that had four of the five finishers from 15 to 19.
Logan Strousse finished 35th with a time of 27:15.31 while Jayven Davis rounded out the Wildcats on the course with 130th place finish, running the course in 36:06.75.
East Stroudsburg won the meet with 44 points, having all five scorers inside the Top 15. Stevenson's Patrick Watson earned medalist honors, beating the field by nearly a minute with a course record 24:15.21.
The Wildcats begin their stretch of three straight events on Belmont Plateau next week, taking part in the Jack St. Clair Memorial on Saturday. The women start things off at 12:15 p.m., followed by the men at 1:00 p.m.