On Sept. 28, UVU’s cross country team headed to the Notre Dame Joe Piane Cross Country Invitational in Indiana where the women finished first and the men 10th, respectively.
The winner of each meet is determined by adding the places of the five fastest runners on each team, with the trophy ultimately being awarded to the team with the least amount of points. Of the 18 teams competing in the women’s race, the Wolverines were the only team to end the day in the double digits, recording a final score of 74. The closest team to them, Saint Louis, finished with 120 points.
The women were led by sophomore Hannah Branch, who finished the 5k race seventh overall with a blazing time of 17:37. Junior Savannah Neuberger came in not far behind, finishing with a 17:44 for ninth place. Freshmen Maggie Zhawlen and Mazzie Melaney crossed the line at 13th and 28th, and senior Ashia Graham added a 17th place finish to help ensure the victory.
The Wolverines have continued to impress this year. They opened the season with a victory in front of their home crowd at the UVU Invitational, then took third at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 15.
In the men’s race, which was a distance of 5 miles, junior Kevin Lynch had the best finish for UVU, with a final time of 24:31.The team was narrowly able to edge out Temple for the 10th spot overall, finishing with a total score of 254.
The men’s team, who also started the year off strong with a victory at the UVU Invitational, hopes to return to their early season success over the upcoming weeks.
Previous races have prepared the Wolverines for the WAC Championships on Oct. 27, where both teams are hoping to come away as conference champions.
Photo credit: UVU Athletics
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