Sept. 4, 2009

Western Carolina Women's Invitational Results

Western Carolina Men's Invitational Results

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Catamount women's cross country team placed first in the two mile race, while the men finished second in the 5K at the Western Carolina Invitational on Friday afternoon.

The women ran past Winthrop by a score of 38 to 44 to place first in the team's season opener. The Catamount men came in second, despite a strong front attack by

Josey Weaver and Stephen Hammond, who both finished in the top two slots.

Western Carolina had seven women place in the top-20 of the two mile course. Freshman Mara Smith led the way, finishing second in her collegiate debut with a time of 12:00.27. Jordan Gaddy followed Smith at third with a mark of 12:07.63. Freshman Leslie Raymond rounded out the top-10 at 12:19.88.

"I tried to keep it as steady as I could," said Smith. "I kept it as even as I could."

Junior Lindsay Groce (12th, 12:22.08), Olivia Jacobs (13th, 12:32.26) and Danielle Shaurette (14th, 12:33.20) rounded out the top-15, giving the Catamounts the assured win over the Eagles.

Four others Catamounts completed the race, including Morgan Turner (17th, 12:36.42), Adrian Cooke (21st, 13:03.93), Christelle Vereb (25th, 13:35.89) and Julia Gomez (29th, 13:50.09).

Western Carolina (12:16.45) finished in first with a team score of 38, while Winthrop (12:19.98) followed in second at 44. Gardner-Webb (12:33.23) placed third with 51 points, as Asheville (13:21.75) wrapped up the race with 101 points. Winthrop senior Carey Phillips won the women's side of the event with a time of 11:52.00.

"We talked about trying to stay close together and finishing strong," said WCU head coach Danny Williamson. "Our idea was when we got to one mile, we were going to move as hard as we could to get to the finish line."

Sophomore Josey Weaver captured his first individual race title of his collegiate career by crossing the finish line at 15:54.37 in the men's 3.1 mile race.

Senior Stephen Hammond followed a split-second behind at 15:55.60. Winthrop then followed with four out the next five runners in order to clinch the team racing title.

"I felt pretty good about our pacing," said Hammond, a senior from Midlothian, Va."We will get a little faster as we get our legs stronger throughout the season."

"The plan was for me to go ahead and set the pace," said Weaver. "I knew in the end that Stephen (Hammond) was going to be right beside me."

Nolan Clark placed in the top-10 with a time of 16:31.84, while junior Stephon Roach earned 11th with a mark of 16:37.95. Garrett West (16th, 16:56.24) and Drew Tucker (16:57.80) finished inside the top-20. The final four Catamounts were Jake Clawson (21st, 17:19.69), Chris Justice (23rd, 18:07.54), Chase Fisher (26th, 18:14.32) and Jake Swimmer (27th, 18:23.98).

Winthrop placed first as a team with an average time of 16:24.24 for 34 points, followed by Western Carolina (16.22.72) in second with 37. UNC-Asheville (17:31.02) clinched third with 77 points and Gardner-Webb fourth with 78 (17:16.88).

"This was a good race for us to improve and work as a team," said Williamson. "Now, we'll try to work on closing the gaps and spacing together before our next race at Winthrop."

The Catamount Cross Country team will travel to the Asics - Winthrop Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19.