Saturday, September 27, proved to be a very rewarding day for West Chester University’s Men and Women’s cross-country teams. Both teams raced at Lock Haven University’s cross-country invitational, and both teams brought at least one award back with them. The weather co-operated nicely, with clear blue skies, comfortable temperatures, and very little wind. Lock Haven’s flat race course proved conducive to fast race times.
At the sound of the shotgun, the men’s team bolted off the starting line at 10:30 a.m., and the women’s team followed suit only an hour later at 11:30 a.m.
The men’s team made a strong showing, third out of 14 teams, a tremendous improvement over last year’s place of nine out of 15. The first golden ram, Zack Musselman, finished the eight-kilometer (4.97 mile) course in 25 minutes and 52 seconds, placing tenth out of 199 runners. Jake Seigel was hot on his heels, finishing eleventh overall with a time of 25 minutes and 53 seconds. Chris Bucci and James Vadas finished with times of 26:12 and 26:14 respectively. Andrew Dombrowiecki ran the race with a time of 26:31, followed by Bryson Long with 27:47, and Nick Angelina with 28:27. The spread for the Rams’ top five runners was a short 39 seconds.
Musselman, Seigel, Bucci, Vadas, and Dombrowiecki all moved into WCU’s top ten fastest times list for Lock Haven’s course.
The women’s had their fair share of glory as well. The first runner to cross the finish line for the team, as well as the race, was Amanda Eisman. Eisman finished the 6k (3.72 mile) course in 21 minutes and 51 seconds. Eisman had a strong lead coming into the finish, defeating her second place opponent by 24.4 seconds. Leah Manning-Smith finished second for the women’s team seventh overall with a time of 22 minutes and 35 seconds. Laurie Jones finished next, with a time of 23:24. Next to cross the line was Mallory Drake 23:31, Alie Smith 24:42, Caitlin Cheruka 25:38, and Samantha Russell 26:46. Jones joined Eisman, Manning-Smith, and Drake in West Chester University’s top-ten fastest times list for Lock Haven’s course. The women’s team scored 109 points, placing them in second overall out of 15 teams, also a tremendous improvement over last year’s race, where the women placed seventh out of 16.
Adam Farence is fourth year student dual-majoring in History and French. He can be reached at AF764146@wcupa.edu