Virginia cross country continued its season Wednesday at the Wolfpack Invite in Cary, N.C. After impressive performances at the Virginia Invite, the men’s team placed first once again at this week’s meet while the women’s team secured third place.
The meet took place at WakeMed Soccer Park and featured four teams — Virginia, NC State, Duke and North Carolina. The women competed in a 5K race and the men ran an 8K race.
In the men’s race, which started at 9:30 a.m.,Virginia ended with 28 points, with all five of Virginia’s scoring runners placing in the top 10. In the women’s race, which kicked off at 10:15 a.m., the Wolfpack took the top score, but Cavaliers scored 59 points with five Cavaliers finishing in the top 20.
Just like in the opening meet of the season, senior Rohann Asfaw had the lowest time at the meet, completing the 8K course in 23:32.5 — over a 30-second improvement from his last race. Asfaw finished the race 2.5 seconds before NC State graduate student JP Flavin.
“Great job for Rohann [Asfaw],” said Vin Lananna, director of track and field and cross country. “The team packed up quite well. NC State had a formidable team with a Hall of Fame coach at the helm. We are getting better each week.”
The men’s team also had a strong showing from underclassmen with freshman Wes Porter placing fifth with a time of 24:01.4 and sophomore Bryson Crites placing sixth with a time of 24:02:1. Graduate student Randy Neish was the next Cavalier to cross the finish line, placing seventh with a time of 24:02.2. Junior Derek Johnson rounded out the Cavaliers’ top-10 finishers as he came in ninth with a time of 24:04.2.
After both athletes earned ACC honors last week , Asfaw and Porter continued their strong start to the season. Asfaw and Porter were named ACC Cross Country Performer of the Week and ACC Freshman Performer of the Week, respectively, Sept. 30.
The women’s team was led by upperclassmen with seniors Kiera Bothwell and Hannah Moran finishing fifth and sixth, with times of 17:38.0 and 17:29.9, respectively. This is the second meet in a row in which Bothwell and Moran both placed in the top 10.
Senior Gabriella Karas was the next Cavalier to cross the finish line, running a time of 17:59.0 to place 15th. Graduate student Michaela Meyer crossed the finish line after Karas with a time of 18:07.2 and senior Olivia Sargent finished 7.9 seconds after Meyer, recording a time of 18:15.1 to place 17th.
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