NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University cross country teams opened their 2024 campaign at the Delaware Invite on Friday morning, running on a familiar course inside White Clay Creek State Park.

Trent Taylor won the men's 8k by 23 seconds to lead the Wildcats to a second-place finish after tiebreakers while the women earned a fourth-place finish in the 5K event.

The women were on the line first on Friday morning, facing two NCAA DI opponents as well as three other Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference teams, Delaware's club team, and NCAA DIII Neumann. The Wildcats were the top CACC team with 118 points.

Tiffany Banning led the Wildcats with a 28^th place finish, running the 5K with a new personal record of 20:43. Twin sister Sammy Banning also set a new PR, placing 35^th overall with a time of 22:11. Running her first collegiate race, Amy Chomo finished 47^th overall with a time of 23:04. Madalyn Minnick ran her first event as a Wildcats, coming in 50^th overall with a time of 23:27 followed directly by Angie Chomo's 51^st place finish with a 23:29 and Abby Chomo's 52^nd place finish with a new PR time of 23:30. Claudia Rodriguez rounded out the Wildcats on the course with a new PR as well, finishing in 62^nd with a time of 25:21.

The host Blue Hens ran the table with a perfect score of 15, having nine of the top 10 finishers. Towson placed second with 49 points followed by the Delaware Track Club (102), WilmU (118), Goldey-Beacom (120), and Chestnut Hill (158).

The men's field featured four CACC programs as well as the Delaware Track Club and Neumann University. The Wildcats tied the Delaware Track Club with 46 points, but the Blue Hens' sixth and seventh place finishers earned them the team win over the Wildcats.

It was Trent Taylor's race from the beginning though, as he led at every check point. He won the 8K event by 23 seconds, being the only runner to finish under 28 minutes with a 27:51. Carter Sparwasser finished fourth overall with a time of 28:32 while Joe Volk placed 12^th overall with a time of 30:19. Braeden Peterson finished in 15^th overall with a time of 30:54 while Hayward Boutte trailed right behind in 16^th with a time of 31:43. Zach Souders placed 33^rd overall with a time of 34:31 while Niko Licup rounded out the Wildcats on the course with a 37^th place finish with a time of 35:02.

The Delaware Track Club's sixth and seventh place finisher crossed the line in 19^th and 20^th to win the team title. Georgian Court came in third with 66 points followed by Goldey-Beacom with 68 and Neumann with 133.

The Wildcats have a much longer travel time to their next race as they head to the site of the NCAA DII East Regional Championship on Saturday, September 28. They will compete in the Harry Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan in Rochester, New York.