Both the West Chester University men’s and women’s cross country teams finished fifth in the DII Challenge in Kutztown on Saturday afternoon.
It was freshman runner Amanda Eisman and sophomore Zach Musselman who led their respective teams in the annual competition.
Eisman, who finished fifth overall in the Lehigh Invitational, placed second overall Saturday and finished the course with a time of 22:58:00.
Musselman placed 10th overall on the men’s leg with a final time of 26:49:00, which was the fastest time for any Golden Rams runner in the last nine years of the competition.
Other finishers for the men include No. 15 finisher Ed Brittingham at 27:11:00, Sean Sebeck 24th at 27:22:00, Jack Siegel 28th at 27:39:00, Curran Kneebone 34th at 27:57:00, James Vadas 38th at 28:12:00, and both Jack Barnett and Cody Borders finished with a time of 28:15:00.
West Chester’s 105-point finish was beaten only by Lock Haven (38), East Stroudsburg (46), Wheeling Jesuit (78) and Kutztown (87).
For the women, Eisman was the highest finisher, but the Rams also had Brittany Boyer place fairly high at 21st overall with a time of 24:46:00. To round out the women’s team, Mara Kelly finished 28th in 25:12:00, Leigh Manning-Smith in 32nd with a time of 25:21:00 and Megan Berberich finished with a 25:37, which was good for 35th place.
The women’s team finished behind Bloomsburg, who won with 57 points, Kutztown (62), East Stroudsburg (74) and Wheeling Jesuit (75).
The women’s 117 points outplaced both Lock Haven and Millersville, who were both picked higher than West Chester in the pre-season coaches poll.
The Lock Haven Invitational will be the next race for both teams, taking place on Sept. 22 at 10 a.m.
Kenny Ayres is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a journalism minor. He can be reached at KA739433@wcupa.edu.