Appalachian State men take title at Winthrop
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Appalachian State University men’s cross country finished first out of 7 teams on Saturday morning at the Winthrop Open.
Senior James Howard-Smith took first overall in the meet, posting a time of 25:04.05 and recording a new personal record.
Sophomore Kyle McFoy was not far behind as he finished second and obtained a personal record in the meet with a time of 25:19.31.
The Apps were close to sweeping the top eight spots with junior Chris Garrett finishing fourth, followed by Will Raby, Josh Cox, Michael Ellis and Andrew Vandenberg, respectively.
The Mountaineers took first in the meet with a total of 18 points, followed by Western Carolina with 55 and Winthrop with 79 points.
Appalachian will be back in action when they host the Mountaineer Open in Boone on Oct. 4 at 5 p.m.
Wofford men, women finish fourth at Winthrop Invitational
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior distance runner Samantha Hughes finished in second place and broke the school record in the 5K event as the women's cross country team finished fourth of eight Division I schools at the Winthrop Invitational Saturday morning. The men's team competed in the 8K and finished fourth of seven teams in the meet.
Hughes broke the record with a time of 18:06.00, breaking the previous time of 18:11.50 set by her teammate junior runner Alissa Williams at the Southern Conference Championships in 2011. For Hughes, it is her second straight top-three finish in a 5K race in consecutive weeks.
In addition to Hughes, senior Alyssa Burkert had a strong finish in ninth place and set a personal record crossing the finish line with a time of 18:26.13.
Rounding out the rest of the women, Williams finished with a time of 19:42.67 for a 33rd place finish, and Carly Egan finished with a time of 19:49.72. Also running for the women were junior Kiersten Ellsworth, and freshman Meghan Tillman.
The men were highlighted by sophomore Alex Michaels finished in 16th place crossing the finish line in 27:17.77, and sophomore Ryan Doyle finished in 18th with a time of 27:24.14.
Also racing for the men were juniors Hunter McGahee and Justin Whitaker, sophomore Kyle Hoffman, and freshman Jonathan Rice.
The cross country teams return to running on Friday October 4th, when they travel to Boone, North Carolina to compete in the Mountaineer Open Cross Country Meet. The time of the races for both men and women will be announced later.
Western Carolina men finish second, women fifth at Winthrop Invitational
Cullowhee, N.C. – Travis Alfaro turned in his second top-five performance of the season to lead the men’s cross country team to consecutive second place finishes on the year at the Winthrop Adidas Invitational Saturday with the women’s team picking up their third top-five finish in three meets with a fifth place finish.
Alfaro ran a 25:33.83 over the 8k route to earn his third place finish, while Clay Howarth ran a 26:19.22 earning him a top-ten finish in tenth place. JC Cornett and Jamie Bigby followed with times of 26:40.32 and 26:40.32 for 12th and 13 place respectively. Tommy Connell completed WCU’s top-five runners with a time of 27:23.94 for 17th place. Perry Cabean finished on the cut off for the top-20 with a time of 27:33.09, while Cooper Wurst and Michael Cornwell ran times of 27:54.97 and 28:08.93.
On the women’s side, Michelle Provost led the way with an 18th place finish after completing the 5k course in 18:48.83. Hayley Tomlinson finished in 28th after crossing the finish line with a time of 19:22.51, and Kaitlyn Shelter finished in 40th with a time of 20:00.15. Rachel Johnson and MacKenzie Jensen were the final scored runners for WCU with times of 20:33.76 and 20:34.13 for 45th and 46th place respectively. Lena Elliott complete the course in a time of 21:14.53 in 55th place two spots ahead of Katarina Ruehl in 57th with a time of 21:30.18. Jocelyn Keen was the final Catamount runner with a time of 22:42.86.
Western Carolina travels to the Greater Louisville Classic on October 5 for its next meet.