Cross Country: WVU Opens With Preston Relays Win
August 31, 2008 02:17 PM | General
August 31, 2008
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| Karly Hamric |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 2007 BIG EAST Champion West Virginia University cross country team opened the 2008 season in winning fashion, taking the top four individual finishes and the overall top combined finish at the Preston Relays late last night.
“Running at Preston High School was a wonderful opportunity for our in-state runners,” says Head Coach Sean Cleary. “Last night’s meet was simply a perfect way to start the 2008 season.”
West Virginia Wesleyan, Alderson Broaddus and Davis and Elkins also competed in the meet, with each team entering three squads comprised of two runners.
The WVU duo of redshirt freshman Ahna Lewis and junior Karly Hamric finished first overall with a combined time of 35:45.50. Lewis, a Morgantown native running in her first Mountaineer race, finished first overall with a time of 17:32.80, while Hamric stopped the clock at 18:12.50.
Redshirt freshman Stephanie Caruso and sophomore Brooke Boening were also impressive in their WVU cross country debuts, finishing third (18:14.00) and fourth (18:58.30), respectively. The pair finished second overall.
WVU’s final pairing of redshirt sophomores Jamie Cokeley and Erica Arthurs combined for a sixth place finish.
“Every student-athlete that ran for us last night competed on that very same course during her high school career,” Cleary says. “We wanted to plan a schedule that had a low key start and built-in competition each week through November.
“Running against the great Division II teams from West Virginia was exactly what we needed. These teams are very well-coached.”
WVWC’s best team finish was third place, while AB’s was fifth place and D&E’s was seventh place. Brenna Hagerty of WVWC finished fifth individually with a time of 18:59.90.
The Mountaineers return to action on Sept. 6 with the intrasquad Gold-Blue Race at the WVU Agronomy Farm. The race is set to begin at 10 a.m.
