NEWARK, Del. - - Running on the course that hosts the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championships later this season, the Wilmington University cross country teams performed well at the University of Delaware Invitational as the men defeated eight other squads and the women finished fourth of 10 teams at White Clay Creek State Park on Saturday afternoon.

The men earned 63 points to finish atop the leaderboard, including beating CACC rival Philadelphia by seven points. They also defeated Chestnut Hill, Nyack, Goldey-Beacom, and Felician who also came to take a test run on the course.

The women picked up 159 total points on Saturday, finishing third out of six CACC squads that were in attendance.

Rachel Jones led the women with a 26^th place finish, but earned 17 points for the Wildcats. She ran the 6K in 26:10.36, good enough to be the fifth fastest female from the CACC. Gabby Brown finished 41^st overall but earned Wilmington 29 points with a 6K time of 27:06.30. Tara Langan was the third finisher for the Wildcats, placing 47^th overall but with 33 points as she crossed the line in 27:37.63.

Freshman Alexa Crowell placed 51^st overall with 37 points, finishing in 27:46.35. Classmate Julia Merritt rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats with a 59^th place finish, earning 43 points with a time of 28:16.00.

Nicole Brevoort finished 61^st overall with a time of 28:45.39 while Emily Kockott placed 70^th with a time of 29:48.75. Tara McDonald finished 93^rd overall with a time of 33:17.53 while Tori Crawford rounded out the Wildcats with an 100^th place finish in 34:58.90.

Host Delaware won the meet with 18 points while Jefferson's 81 points were good enough for second overall. Delaware's Elizabeth McGroarty earned medalist honors with a time of 23:05.39.

On the men's side, Mark Corrigan paced the Wildcats to a victory with a third place finish, earning the team two points in the 8K with a time of 27:40.98. Miguel Suero was 12^th overall, giving the team nine points with a time of 28:53.53.

Freshman Jake Puharic was the top CACC rookie to cross the line, placing 15^th overall for 12 points in a time of 29:09.17. Johnathan Avila was directly behind Puharic in 16^th place overall, picking up another 13 points for the Wildcats with a  time of 29:23.10. Korey Jeffries wrapped up the victory with a 31^st place finish overall, earning 27 points with a time of 30:55.00.

Junior Jayven Davis rouneded out the Wildcats on the course on Saturday, finishing 85^th overall with a time of 44:05.69.

The Wildcats topped Jefferson by seven points while Chestnut Hill finished third with 72 points. Nyack was fourth with 118 points. Jefferson's Milan Duka won medalist honors for the meet, finishing the 8K in 27:04.45.

The Wildcats have next weekend off but return to action on September 30 when they travel south to Salisbury University for the famed Don Cathcart Invitational.