PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Two meets into the 2018 season and the Wilmington University men's cross country team has two victories, as it won the Philly Metro Invite on Saturday at the Belmont Plateau while the women ran well enough for a fourth place finish as well.

Getting a preview of the course that will host the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship, the men out ran a majority of the CACC as nine of the 15 teams in the field are members of the CACC. The Wildcats collected 55 points for first place, defeating NCAA DIII Stockton by two points.

The women showed as well on Saturday, finishing fourth out of 16 teams on the course. They were the third CACC team to finish in the field, as they field featured 10 CACC programs. The women finished with 128 points for fourth place, finishing behind Jefferson (62 points), NCAA DIII Stockton (86), and Felician (128).

The men were led by a sixth place finish by freshman Brandon Cruz, as he ran the 8K course in 29:19.9. Garrett Checchi finished 10^th overall in a time of 28:35.4 followed closely by Mark Corrigan in 12^th place with a time of 28:46.9. newcomer Johnelle Joe finished 15^th overall in his first race as a Wildcat, running in 28:54.7 before James Kennedy rounded out the Wildcat scoring with an 18^th place finish in a time of 29:03.3.

Miguel Suero finished 21^st overall with a time of 20:14.6 while classmate Johnathan Avila placed 23^rd overall with a time of 29:21.4. Sean Scandle finished 47^th overall with a time of 30:51.1 while Zak Bracchus placed 68^th overall in 31:56.7. Andrew Milham ran the course in 32:45.2 for a 77^th place finish followed by Dan Leek's 88^th place finish in 33:53.2. Jayven Davis rounded out the Wildcat men on the course with a 114^th place finish in 38:00.6.

Georgian Court's Hussein Elmeshad won the 8K race with a time of 27:32.9.

On the women's side, the Wildcats were led by freshman Allyson Kelly's 11^th place finish, as she finished the 5K course in 21:22.4. Classmate Grace Slate was hot on Kelly's heels, finishing 13^th overall with a time of 21:24.3. Fellow freshman Rosemary Gillam placed 27^th overall with a time of 22:19.4 before sophomore Alexa Crowell finished 35^th overall with a time of 22:39.2. Sophomore Julia Merritt rounded out the Wildcats' scoring with a 43^rd place finish, running the course in 23:22.2.

Junior Emily Kockott finished 49^th overall with a time of 23:43.6 while freshman Hannah Fitzpatrick placed 79^th overall in 25:31.4. Tori Crawford rounded out the Wildcats on the course with a 101^st place finish, running in 30:56.9.

Chestnut Hill's Taylor Neals won the women's event in 20:50.7, four second faster than the field.

The Wildcats have 13 days to recover from the Philly Metro, not running again until the 30^th Annual Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas on September 22. The event in Fayetteville, Arkansas will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the women's event.