Boone, N.C. – The Western Carolina Catamounts put foot to trail for the first time in the 2024 cross country season with the Catamount men's team taking a third place finish and the women's team finishing fifth at the Covered Bridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State.

Senior Drew Zink led the way for the Purple and Gold, posting a fourth place finish in the men's 6K race with a time of 18:43.26. The highest finishing Southern Conference runner at the event, Zink crossed the line just two seconds faster than Mercer's Yianni Pothoulakis. Freshman Colorado State transfer Logan Gullett took eleventh as WCU's second finisher just outside the 19-minute mark with a time of 19:01.26. The remaining three Catamount scoring times all finished outside the 19:15 mark with Lawson Mecom finishing 22nd in the 6K with a time of 19:17.65 while Will Mitchell and John Davis finished side by side in 31st and 32nd with times of 19:34.03 and 19:39.34, respectively. Rounding out the Catamount men's sub-20:00, top-50 placements were Matthew Womack (35th,19:44.37) and freshman runner Noah Luke (42nd, 19:59.57). 

For the Catamount women in the 5K race, Katherine Hopkins led WCU and was one of only two SoCon runners to finish within the top 20 as host school App State and South Carolina runners claimed 16 of the top 20 placements. Hopkins came home 16th with a time of 18:31.52 and was followed by fellow Sophomore Grace Lane who took 33rd with a finish of 18:57.33. The remaining three scoring positions all finished within two spots of each other as freshmen Hannah Kliner and Braelyn-Shae Wahy were 48th and 52nd respectively, with sophomore Peyton Skoglund placing in 50th. Just outside the Catamounts' top-five runners were Landey Green, Amaya Hicks, and Sara Klemm, who finished 55th, 57th, and 59th. 

Oveall, WCU head cross country coach Jesse Norman was pleased with the effort he saw in the 2024 season opener.

"It was a good opener for us," said Norman. "We focused on how tight of a spread we could have and did a good job with that. This was our first test to see what the potential makeup of the team can be this year."

The Catamounts will have their second test on Sept. 14 as they head to Greenville for the Furman Invitational. The Purple and Gold will then return to the tar heel state for the Brevard Invite on the 21st.

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).