Cross Country Posts Top-5 Finish
September 13, 2014 04:34 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 20-ranked West Virginia University cross country team placed fifth at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania.
“We had a very nice outing today. I am very pleased with this group,” said coach Sean Cleary. “We had some very good performances from our young kids in more of a pressure situation. Today shows me that we have a few more young ladies who are stepping up and want a piece of the championships.”
West Virginia has now recorded top-five finishes at each of its first two meets to start the season for the first time since 2011.
Brynn Harshbarger was the first Mountaineer to cross the line, finishing in sixth place overall (21:25). Harshbarger, who was the second West Virginia finisher in the season opener at Lehigh on August 29, trimmed 14 seconds off her season-best 6k time.
“Brynn was very poised today – clearly the work she put in over the summer was of high quality,” Cleary said.
Renee Maisonneuve finished 18th overall (21:57), Rachel Faulds placed 30th (22:26) and Lydia Martinelli finished 35th (22:44), helping West Virginia to a team score of 133.
Other notable Mountaineer finishers include Brianna Kerekes’ 44th-place result (23:06), Allie Diehl’s 52nd-place finish and Sarah McCauley’s 61st overall finish (24:25).
No. 29 Penn State won the meet with a team score of 27.
“The preseason has served us well,” Cleary said. “When we line up next, we will have four or five new faces on the line and have a much clearer picture of exactly where we are as a group.”
The Mountaineers return to competition on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Kentucky.
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