Cross Country Round-up: Greensboro Invitational
(results courtesy of Greensboro Pacesetters) |
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What a weekend it was! The Guilford College cross country teams took to the Hagan Stone Park course for the second straight weekend and left no doubt their hard work is paying off.
Our teams did not race until 1:00 p.m., but we helped with earlier races at the finish line, working both in the chute and with race processing. There was some concern this might wear the students down, but thankfully it wasn't the case.
The entire women's team participated in a 5k race for the first time since the season-opening Virginia Wesleyan meet. Grace Normann led the women's team for the third time with a time of 22:02. Running the best time of her short competitive running career, Carolyn Herlehy improved her personal record (PR) by more than 35 seconds to 22:18. She has been looking very strong in workouts over the past two weeks and Saturday's performance proved her hard work in practice. Charissa Duncan placed third for the Quakers, running 22:50. Caroline Gadsby was fourth in 24:26. While not running a PR, Caroline was nursing a sore hamstring and the fact that she ran close to her PR is another good sign. Liz Chandler placed fifth for the team finishing in 25:34, a PR by over one minute. Emily Frenzel was right behind Liz, running a season-best 25:36. Johanna Naradzay came in sixth for Guilford in 25:45, which is the first time she has run under 26:00 in her college career. Emily Querin dropped more than two minutes from her best performance this season, running 25:53. Rachel Dede's 28:10 improved her PR by one minute. Dana Small also dropped almost two minutes from her season's best time, running 29:14. Freshman Naomi Lewis completed her first college cross country race in 33:53. As a team, the women placed third, only three points behind the first- and second-place teams.
The men's team had a new leader, senior Jeremy Bante. Jeremy was hampered through the spring and summer with an irritated IT band, but it appears he has put it behind him. He finished the 8k course in 28:48, running a PR by 31 seconds and making him the second-fastest male runner in Guilford College history. Jeremy Wang finished second in 29:23, a PR by 58 seconds. Leon Odell was third, running 29:47, a PR by 1:04. Chris Walker was fourth in 30:02, a PR by 1:13. Brett McDonough put together an outstanding race, running 32:18, his season's best time by over two minutes. Nico de la Vega-Billingsley continues show improvement, finishing in 33:19, almost three minutes faster than his previous PR. Tyler Brown finished in 33:42, a minute faster than his best time this year. Ethan Wiley also ran a great race, finishing in 34:48, a 40-second PR. The men's team repeated as the Division III champions for a second year in a row, beating Greensboro College by four points.
The teams compete next weekend at Hagan Stone Park for the final race before the conference championships. The women race at 9:30 and the men at 10:15. We hope to have team t-shirts for sale at the meet for $10.
-Submitted by head coach Jamie LaFollette.