SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina graduate student
Kate Mattison earned her first collegiate cross country victory Saturday morning as she took first place in the women's 5K race at the Upstate Invitational held at the Milliken Research Center.
"I feel like we took another step forward as a program today," said head coach
Jesse Norman. "The team is putting together the race plan we want for the conference championships in a couple of weeks, you can see them gaining confidence. The women's team got surprised by Mercer as they had a breakout performance, but we got much closer to ASU today. The men's team finished about as expected with us missing a vital piece of our top five. We should be good for conference in two weeks."
Mattison completed the race with a time of 17:43.00. She is the first individual winner for WCU since Shawnda Martin won the WCU Fast Cat Invitational during the 2016 season.
"I'm very excited that Kate got the individual win today," stated Norman. "Her confidence has been growing with each week and meet this season. It'll be fun to see what she does at the conference championships."
Classmate
Caroline Hilliard finished in fourth place with a new personal best time of 18:12.60.
Alesea Caldwell crossed the finish line with a time of 19:21.90 to finish in 26
th followed by
Sydney Runyan in 29
th with a new personal best time of 19:27.50.
Riley McKinney posted a new personal best as she finished in the final scoring position with a time of 19:27.90.
Other Catamount finishers include
Sara Klemm in 37
th at 19:36.30,
Landey Green in 40
th at 19:47.40,
Madelynn Duffield in 59
th with a time of 20:30.30,
Lauren Esselborn in 66
th with a time of 20:42.80, and
Sydney Lowe in 70
th with a time of 20:58.60.
Jalen Elwell led the Catamounts for the second straight meet, finishing the men's 8K race in ninth place with a time of 25:19.80.
John Davis completed the race in a new personal best 26:22.20 to finish in 39
th.
Grant Parham finished 42
nd with a personal best time of 26:45.50 followed by
Will Mitchell in 46
th at 26:28.10.
Jonny Sherwood was 48
th with a time of 26:29.80 with
Nicholas Kiser finishing 56
th after completing the race in 26:56.10.
Andrew Edney finished 62
nd with a time of 27:11.20 along with
Mickey Schihl in 65
th at 27:16.30 and
Henry Stecher in 74
th with a time of 27:35.00.
In the team standings, the WCU women's team took third place while the men's team finished in fourth place. Mercer took first place on the women's side while Appalachian State was the men's team winner.
WCU competes for a SoCon cross country title on Sunday, Oct. 30 in Johns Island, S.C., at the Johns Island County Park. The men's 8K race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. followed by the women's 5K race at 10:45 a.m.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount cross country and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports) and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountxctf).
Women's Results: 5K
1.
Kate Mattison - 17:43.00
4.
Caroline Hilliard - 18:12.60
26.
Alesea Caldwell – 19:21.90
29.
Sydney Runyan – 19:27.50
31.
Riley McKinney – 19:27.90
37.
Sara Klemm – 19:36.30
40.
Landey Green – 19:47.40
59.
Madelynn Duffield – 20:30.30
66.
Lauren Esselborn – 20:42.80
70.
Sydney Lowe – 20:58.60
Men's Results: 8K
9.
Jalen Elwell - 25:19.80
39.
John Davis – 26:22.22
42.
Grant Parham – 26:24.50
46.
Will Mitchell – 26:28.10
48.
Jonny Sherwood – 26:29.80
56.
Nicholas Kiser – 26:56.10
62.
Andrew Edney – 27:11.20
65.
Mickey Schihl – 27:16.30
74.
Henry Stecher – 27:35.00
