__Men place fourth at U.Va.’s Lou Onesty Invitational__
This Saturday the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Lou Onesty Invitational hosted by the University of Virginia. The men’s team placed fourth out of nine teams and the women’s team finished second behind UVA. Duke University won the men’s race over host U.Va., while Cavalier Andy Biladeau captured the individual title, completing the 8-kilometer layout in 24 minutes and 25.8 seconds.
p. Tribe true freshman Tom Burke — in the first race of his college career — led the Tribe placing 21st overall with a time of 25:29. Junior Karl Lang finished second for the College, running 26:16.4 and taking 27th place. Rounding out the College’s scorers were sophomore Cabell Rosanelli (38th), freshman Pete Asaro (45th) and redshirt-freshman Robert Sagar (54th).
p. On the women’s side, senior Emily Gousen led the Tribe running a personal-best 18:06.5 and placing second overall.
p. “While the first race of the season is viewed more as a rust-buster and a low-pressure way to get back into racing mode, we all went into the race ready to compete and give our all. The girls worked really well together,” Gousen said. “Coming in second place, only seven points behind nationally-ranked U.Va., is a great success and only points to good things to come.”
p. Several other Tribe runners finished in the top 10, as sophomore Kayley Byrne (sixth), senior Anna Parker (eighth) and sophomore Emily Anderson (tenth) packed together, finishing just 13 seconds apart. Senior Erin Prillaman placed 11th and completed the College’s scoring.
p. Men’s head coach Alex Gibby felt that his team and the women’s teams performed well at the meet.
p. “U.Va. is not a meet we stress from a performance standpoint,” Gibby said. “It is there to allow our freshmen and other assorted personnel an opportunity to acclimate to the 8K race distance.”
Coach Gibby also pointed out that competitions like the one held Saturday are designed to help his team “continue to perform well during the post-season [in November].”
p.Both the men’s and women’s teams next compete Sept. 29 in the Second Annual Colonial Inter-Regional Challenge at their home course at Eastern State Hospital, where they will look to continue their early successes.
