Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their seasons last Friday in a dual meet against Georgia at the UGA Equestrian Complex in Bishop, Ga. Both teams fell to the Bulldogs by the same score of 50-15 as Georgia swept the top positions in both the women’s 5,000-meter and men’s 8,000-meter run.
Tech’s first finisher in the women’s race was junior Felicity Brower, who reached the finish line after 11 Bulldog runners. She finished with a time of 19:19. Freshman Elena Hubbard was the second to finish for the Jackets in her first ever collegiate race; she finished 16th overall and completed the race in 19:34.
On the men’s side, the first nine runners to finish were Bulldogs before senior Billy Mateker completed the race with a time of 26:28. Freshman Patrick Barron finished one second behind Mateker at 26:29 in 11th place.
Tech lost two of their top male runners from last year in E.C. Gibbs and Nazar Trilisky, but the team returns several veterans in seniors Matt Hickey and Billy Mateker and juniors D.J. McMillan and Mark Mendrek-Laske.
The women’s running squad was very young last season and returns all five of its top runners. Sophomore Mary Kate DuBard will be a strong returner for the Jackets this season after earning All-South Region honors with a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA South Region Championships last year.