The Phoenix men's cross country team took first and the women's team took second in the inaugural Elon Invitational cross country meet held Sept. 12 on the new course developed on South Campus. The men's race covered 8 kilometers and the women's race was on a 5K course. The race was a chance for Elon athletics to tune up for the Southern Conference championship meet, which will be hosted by Elon Oct. 31.
The meet attracted 10 women’s teams and 9 men’s teams.
Justin Gianni paced the Elon men with a time of 26:05, good enough for second place. Sophomore Will Schefer recorded Elon’s other top-five finish with a third-place finish and a time of 26:12. Furman’s Charlie McGogan took home the individual title with a time of 25:52.
“I was really excited that the men were able to pull out the win today,” head coach Christine Engel said. “We had several runners that edged out their opponents in the final meters of the race.”
Matt Richardson was Elon’s other top-10 performer with an eighth-place time of 26:39. Connor Mercurio and Ranley Gousse finished 15th and 18th, respectively, with times of 27:09 and 27:14.
Taylor Zorski and Clay Sankey rounded out Elon’s top-seven with times of 27:30 and 27:41.
The trio of Conor O’Brien, Andrew Hawkey and David Wells finished 32nd, 33rd and 34th with times of 27:49, 27:54 and 27:54.
Lucas Walters posted a 39th-place finish with a time of 28:12, while Sean Martyn clocked a 28:47. Tim Garber and Andrew Garrison rounded out the field for the Phoenix with times of 29:13 and 29:43.
The Elon women’s team finished one point behind Southern Conference foe Furman. Leading the charge for the Phoenix was junior Emily Fournier with a third-place finish and a time of 18:50. Furman’s Chloe Kowalski earned the individual championship with a time of 18:41.
“I was very proud of the way that the women raced today,” head coach Christine Engel said. “The team has worked really hard to prepare and had a strong showing in the season’s first meet.”
Caitlin Beeler earned a sixth-place finish with a time of 19:08. Jacqueline Alnes and Allyson Costa rounded out Elon’s top-ten performances, finishing seventh and ninth with times of 19:16 and 19:35, respectively.
The freshman duo of Sullivan Parkes and Morgan Denecke recorded times of 19:35 and 19:37 on their way to a 12th and 14th place finishes. Catherine Rossi clocked a 19:38 as she went on to finish 15th.
Melanie Reyer and Emily Tryon finished 20th and 21st, respectively, with times of 19:54 and 19:55. Christine Pacewicz recorded a 28th-place finish with a time of 20:13, while Madison Russo earned a top-30 finish with a time of 20:21. Meaghan Collins rounded out the field for Elon with a time of 21:08.