Cross Country Round-up: Old North State Invitational

 

Guilford College's cross country team hosted the Old North State Invitational at Hagan Stone Park Saturday.  Although mother nature was kind this week with lower temperatures, she apparently woke up on the wrong side of the bed and cranked up the heat for the race.  Nevertheless, the Quakers were ready to roll and had some outstanding performances. 

The women's team was led by Grace Normann who finished 13th overall and third in the Division III category.  Grace's time of 27:36 is the second-fastest six-kilometer time in Guilford history.  Charissa Duncan was second for Guilford, placing 21st overall and fifth in the Division III race.  Her time of 28:25 is the eighth-best six-kilometer clocking in Guilford history.  Carolyn Herlehy was third for Guilford with a personal-best 29:20.  Caroline Gadsby bested her fastest time by a minute with a time of 30:20.  Paige McCall finished fifth for Guilford in 32:25.  The trio of Johanna Narazday, Liz Chandler, and Emily Frenzel finished next within 20 seconds of each other.  Johanna proved she is rounding into shape, running 32:59, which is almost 1:30 faster than she ran two weeks ago at Washington and Lee.  Liz completed her first collegiate six-kilometer race in 33:01 and Emily finished in 33:19, also better than her Washington and Lee effort.  Rachel Dede ran over three minutes faster than she did at Washington and Lee, finishing in 34:39.  Emily Querin rounded out the Quakers' runners by finishing her first-ever 6k in 36:03.

Jeremy Wang continued to pace the men's team, placing 13th overall and third in the Division III category.  His time of 30:21 is a personal best.  Leon Odell finished only 30 seconds behind Jeremy and trimmed 50 seconds off his personal best with a 30:51.  Jeremy Bante finished next, running 31:10, his season-best time by 1:10.  Chris Walker was nine seconds behind Jeremy, running 31:19, which is his season-best time and very close to a personal best.  Tyler Brown finished next in 34:38, his best time of the year.  Nico de la Vega Billingsely covered the course in 36:06, improving his personal-best time by 2:42.  Chad Currin finished in 38:05, 2:59 faster than two weeks ago. 

This meet served as the North Carolina Division II/Division III State Meet.  Grace Normann and Jeremy Wang earned First Team All-State honors by virtue of their top-seven college division finishes. Jeremy Bante, Charissa Duncan, Leon Odell and Chris Walker garnered Second Team All-State honors by finishing among the top-14 college division runners.

The Quakers compete next weekend at Hagan Stone Park in the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational.  This is one of the season's largest meets with over 2,000 high-school athletes and usually around 40 college teams.  The women will run a five-kilometer race at 1:00 p.m., while the men's race starts at 1:45 p.m.  We will also help run the high-school and middle-school races and could use some helpers. If you are willing and able to lend a hand, please call Jamie LaFollette at 336.908.0547. 

Pictures from the meet will be available later at http://www.guilfordrunning.com.

-Submitted by head coach Jamie LaFollette.