PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Competing in its first meet of the 2023 season, the Wilmington University cross country teams ran on familiar grounds, competing in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Championships at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park on Saturday. The men finished second while the women placed fifth overall.
Rowan won both the 5K women's race and the 8K men's race. Rowan won the women's event with 39 points followed by Stockton (45), Jefferson (85), Felician (135), and Wilmington (149). Among CACC teams, the Wildcats finished third with eight teams in attendance.
Rowan's men's team won the event with 49 points, trailed closely by the Wildcats' 63 points. Stockton finished third overall with 82 points followed by Georgian Court's 93 points and Goldey-Beacom's 138 points to round out the Top 5. The Wildcats were the top CACC team in the standings, with eight of the 12 conference teams in attendance.
Tiffany Banning paced the women in the 5K race, finishing 14th overall with a time of 21:16.4. her sister Sammy Banning was second on the team with a 44th place finish with a time of 23:40.8 for 30 points. Running in her collegiate debut, Cassidy Burr finished 45th overall for 31 points, crossing the line in 23:44.8. Running her first cross country race, Abby Chomo was the fourth Wildcat finisher, finishing in 52nd overall for 36 points with a time of 24:07.6. Freshman Kylie Schultz closed out the team scoring with her collegiate debut, running in 24:19.3 to finish in 54th overall for 38 points.
Rounding out the Lady Wildcats on the course was sophomore Taylor Burchfield with a time of 25:29.7 for 68th overall while Claudia Rodriguez ran her first collegiate race with an 83rd place finish with a time of 27:52.5.
On the men's side, the Wildcats had a pair of Top 10 performances in the 8K event, led by Dan Wyshinski 's fourth place finish. Wyshinski crossed the line in 23:13.2, less than five seconds out of second place overall. Trent Taylor finished eighth overall by running an average mile of 5:42.4 for an 8K time of 28:31.8.
Ethyn Peck picked up 13 points by finishing 15th overall in his first collegiate race, stopping the clock at 28:57.1. Sophomore Vaughn Lackman was the fourth Wildcat to cross, earning 15 points with a 17th place finish with a time of 28:58.3.
Newcomers Carter Sparwasser and Joel Oquendo finished 32nd and 33rd overall, respectively, earning the team 25 and 26 points. Sparwasser ran his debut in 29:33.8 while Oquendo ran in 29:39.4. Zach Souders ran his first collegiate race in 31:17.2 for a 54th place finish to round out the Top 7 for the Wildcats.
Chestnut Hill's Cole Stanchina won the men's race in 27:52.5 but the Griffins didn't factor into the team scoring. Stockton's Kayla Kass won the women's meet with a time of 20:16.4, just 1.4 seconds ahead of the field.
The Wildcats head to the DII/DIII Challenge this weekend, hosted by Kutztown University. They will run the Farm Course on the campus of Kuztown on Friday afternoon. The men will start the day with a 5:00 p.m. opening gun.
Women's Results:
1 - Rowan – 39 pts
2 – Stockton – 45 pts
3 – Jefferson – 85 pts
4 – Felician – 135 pts
5 – Wilmington – 149 pts
6 – Holy Family – 153 pts
7 – Georgian Court – 204 pts
8 – Immaculata – 233 pts
9 – Goldey-Beacom – 245 pts
10 – Dominican – 295 pts
11 – Caldwell – 302 pts
12 – Bryn Athyn – 315 pts
Wilmington's Results:
14 – Tiffany Banning – 21:16.4 (14 pts)
44 – Sammy Banning – 23:40.8 (30)
45 – Cassidy Burr – 23:44.8 (31)
52 – Abby Chomo – 24:07.6 (36)
54 – Kylie Schultz – 24:19.3 (38)
68 – Taylor Burchfield – 25:29.7 (47)
83 – Claudia Rodriguez – 27:52.5 (58)
Men's Results:
1 – Rowan – 49 pts
2 – Wilmington – 63 pts
3 – Stockton – 82 pts
4 – Georgian Court – 93 pts
5 – Goldey-Beacom – 138 pts
6 – Jefferson – 196 pts
7 – Felician – 231 pts
8 – Rowan-Gloucester – 243 pts
9 – Holy Family – 255 pts
10 – Immaculata – 263 pts
11 – Caldwell – 270 pts
12 – Dominican – 354 pts
13 – Brookdale CC – 362 pts
14 – Bryn Athyn – 383 pts
Wilmington's Results:
4 – Dan Wyshinski – 28:13.2 (3 pts)
8 – Trent Taylor – 28:31.8 (7)
15 – Ethyn Peck – 28:57.1 (13)
17 – Vaughn Lackman – 28:58.3 (15)
32 – Carter Sparwasser – 29:33.8 (25)
33 – Joel Oquendo – 29:39.4 (26)
54 – Zach Souders – 31:17.2 (38)
57 – Joe Volk – 31:34.6
73 – Braeden Peterson – 32:54.0
74 – Hayward Boutte – 32:54.9
75 – Jared Cushlanis – 32:57.0
95 – Niko Licup – 35:47.4