Oct. 2, 2009
Men's Results 
Women's Results
Charlotte, N.C. - The Western Carolina men and women's cross country teams finished in the top half of the 23 team field of the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational as the women placed fifth in 5K and the men sixth in the 8K on Friday afternoon.
Junior Jordan Gaddy led the way with the top finish for the women, while Stephen Hammond earned his first top finish for the men this season. Overall, eight WCU athletes set records in the school's all-time performance chart.
The women finished fifth in a field of 23 teams, the largest WCU has participated in this season. The Catamounts tallied an average of 18:52.44 for a total of 179 points. Jordan Gaddy led the way for WCU with a mark of 18:30.3 for a 23rd place finish. Lindsay Groce (36th) and Mara Smith (39th) followed behind with times of 18:51.8 and 18:53.8.
Olivia Jacobs (42, 19:00.9) and Morgan Turner (49, 19:05.4) also finished inside the top-50 of the 209 participant field. Senior Danielle Shaurette completed a time of 19:06.6 for 51st in the field.
All six top finishers placed their names in the WCU record books in the 5K. Gaddy's mark of 18:30 tied Megan Issacs' performance in the 2008 Greater Louisville Classic for the ninth best WCU performance all-time. Both Groce and Smith tied performances for 17th and 18th in the all-time record chart. Jacobs, Turner and Shaurette also tallied times inside the top-30.
Freshmen Leslie Raymond (63, 19:20.5), Adrian Cooke (67, 19:31.8) and Christelle Vereb (126, 20:33.7) rounded out the WCU field in Friday's meet.
The Western Carolina men placed sixth out of 21 teams after finishing with an average time of 26:13.14 for a total of 164 points.
Three Catamounts finished inside the top-20 as senior Stephen Hammond earned his third consecutive top-10 finish. Hammond paced the 8K course with a time of 25:18.3 for ninth place in the 197-man meet. The mark was the 15th best finish ever by a Catamount runner in the 8K event.
Sophomore Josey Weaver earned another top-15 finish with a time of 25:31.4 (14th), which was ranked 19th in the WCU record books. Freshman Nolan Clark etched his name in the books with a personal best 25:37.6 for 17th overall in the field.
Drew Tucker (73, 27:13.3), Chase Fisher (82, 27:25.1) and Garrett West (87, 27:31.4) quickly followed pursuit, finishing in the top half of the field. Freshman Jake Swimmer rounded out the points for Western Carolina with a mark of 27:51.0.
Tyler Dunn (120, 28:24.9), Jake Clawson (131, 28:49.8), Stephon Roach (141, 29:23.5) and Chris Justice (146, 29:33.4) rounded out the field for the men.
Western Carolina will wrap up the regular season on Friday, Oct. 16 at the Blue Ridge Open hosted by Appalachian State University. The meet will begin at 3:00 p.m. in Boone, N.C.
