Bryson City, N.C. – Western Carolina cross country split its season-opening Duel in the Valley on Friday afternoon at the Kituwah Mound trail. The men's squad claimed a narrow team victory over mountain rival UNC Asheville, while the women's team put two inside the top five in falling to the Bulldogs.
The Catamount men placed five runners inside the top 10 to finish with 31 total points to edge UNC Asheville with 33 points in the 6K race. Western Carolina was led by senior Alex Ruge, who claimed the individual victory by clocking in at 19:12.2. Matthias Peterson followed in third at 19:22.9, while Eli Clonch finished fourth at 19:23.7.
Sam Corso added a sixth-place finish in 19:28.1, while Jaleb Saunders rounded out the Catamount scoring five with a ninth-place finish in 19:31.7.
Ruge and UNC Asheville's Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland battled near the front of the field, with Ruge ultimately crossing the finish line first. The Catamounts' depth proved to be the difference in the team scoring, with WCU placing five runners ahead of Asheville's fifth scorer.
Brad White finished 10th in (19:35.1), followed closely by Noah Luke in 11th at (19:40.6). Kadin Nance (19:48.1), Jacob Campbell (20:07.6), Matthew Womack (20:26.2), Peter Schihl (20:44.1), Nick Morizio (20:53.6), and Jason Wade (21:21.3) also competed for the Catamounts.
"Today was a good start for the season. We focused mainly on competing as a team with a controlled effort on the front end. I felt like we did a good job with that," said head coach Jesse Norman, who is entering his eighth season with the Catamounts. "It'll be exciting to open this team up in a couple of weeks at the Southern Showcase and get a solid read of where we are. Our men's team won a good battle with our depth; now we just need to lean harder into that over these next few weeks."
On the women's side, UNC Asheville claimed the team victory with 18 points to WCU's 39, though the Catamounts placed six runners among the top 13 finishers in the 3K event.
Katherine Hopkins led Western Carolina with a fifth-place finish in 10:56.0, followed by Ashlyn Watkins in sixth at 11:00.8. Maddie Hladik finished seventh in her Catamount debut, crossing in 11:02.5.
Grace Lane added a 10th-place finish in 11:18.3, while Hannah Kliner finished 11th in 11:26.6 to complete WCU's scoring five. Avery Mays followed in 12th at 11:30.1, while Peyton Skoglund finished 13th in 11:32.0. Braelyn Wahy rounded out the Catamount women's competitors with a time of 11:49.7.
After two weeks in the shop, the Catamount cross country teams will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 18, as they travel to the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Ala. WCU then closes its regular-season meets on October 17 as they travel to Spartanburg, SC, for the Upstate Invitational.
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