While the Yellow Jacket football team lit up campus with a win in their home opener over Elon, the cross country team continued the great opening weekend of sports with strong finishes at the University of Georgia XC invitational held on Saturday, August 31.
The Jackets hoped to do as well as they did last year, when both the men’s and women’s team placed second. Most of the runners that year were upperclassman with past experience.
Jeremy Grenwald, a junior from Chesapeake, Va., led the way for the men’s team in the 8K race Saturday with a solid time of 26:01:75 which placed him third out of the 63 competitors.
Finishing close behind Greenwald were four other teammates: senior Alec Clifford (26:12.85, sixth), senior Shawn Roberts (26:13.61, seventh), junior Brandon Lasater (26:19.22, eigth), freshman Sidney Speir (26:47.24, 12th) and junior Nat Estes (26:52.54, 15th). Katie Townsend, a junior, led the women’s team with a top 10 finish, finishing third out seventy four runners in the 5K with a time of 18:48.78. She was followed by junior Kelly Meyer (19:09.43, eight) and sophomore Caroline Kissel (19:22.77, 12th). While this marks the start of the cross country season, there are only four more meets before the ACC Championships.
The cross country team’s next meet will be in Greenville, SC for the Furman Cross Country Classic on Sept. 14 hosted by Furman University.