WVU Places Fifth at Spiked Shoe Invite

Saturday, September 10

University Park, Pa.

10:00 a.m.

West Virginia University

Spiked Shoe Invitational

September 10, 2016 03:28 PM | Cross Country

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University cross country team completed its second competition this week, racing at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Spiked Shoe Invitational Results

Select Mountaineers competed at the Spiked Shoe Invitational, placing fifth as a team with a score of 147. It marked the fifth consecutive season that WVU raced on Penn State's Blue/White Golf Course.

“Today was a solid day for the team,” said coach Sean Cleary. “We got on the NCAA regional course, and it will be better for us having done so. I was hoping for a little more out of a few girls on the team, but I was pleased with the efforts that I saw. We now have three weeks to rest and regroup before having a nice training block.”

Penn State won the race with 37 team points. In second place came Georgetown (55), followed by Syracuse in third (67), Cornell in fourth (73), West Virginia in fifth (147), Rutgers in sixth (169), St. Joseph's (Pa.) in seventh (183), Grove City in eight (256) and Messiah in ninth (268).

Junior Amy Cashin crossed the finish line first for WVU, placing 14th overall with a time of 21:45. Redshirt freshman Olivia Hill came in second for the Mountaineers, finishing 28th with a time of 22:40, followed by redshirt freshman Candace Jones in 32nd (23:04) and redshirt juniors Allie Diehl in 36th (23:17), and Rebecca Wendt in 37th (23:21).

On Thursday, the Mountaineers opened the regular-season competition, competing at the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock, Texas. It was the first time WVU raced at the Red Raiders Rawls Course, and the Mountaineers swept the victories as a team and individually. WVU posted four top-six finishes, including a first-place finish from redshirt junior Jillian Forsey.

Texas Tech Open Results

Out of 98 runners, Forsey won the race with a time of 21:05.50. Behind Forsey was teammate redshirt junior Maggie Drazba who placed second overall with a time of 21:27.80.

Redshirt junior Brynn Harshbarger finished in fourth place with a time of 22:38.80 and senior Brianna Kerekes placed sixth with a time of 22:46.00. Redshirt senior Megan Yuan placed ninth overall in 23:01.10.

The Mountaineers will have three weeks off before they compete at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on October 1.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUCrossCountry on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.