Reaching the mid-point of their season, the men’s and women’s cross country team traveled to Kernersville, North Carolina on Oct. 14 to compete in the VertCross Invitational.
The men’s team had a dominating performance led by their top five runners who finished in the top 50. The leader of the pack was Senior Simeon Roberts (Greeneville, Tenn.) who finished in 18th place for the third time this season and the second week straight.
Following behind Roberts was freshman Adam Bradtmueller (Sarasota, Fla.) who placed 20th, next senior Skyler Winchester (Knoxville, Tenn.) in 30th place and finishing the top five performers were James Garst (Jonesborough, Tenn.) and junior Matthew Warriner (Maryville, Tenn.).
Overall the team totaled 111 points and ended in third place behind Duke.
The Bucs are ranked 15th in the USTFCCCA South Region.
Victoria Hutchens just continues to dominate. For the fourth meet in a row she led her team, Friday she finished 25th and captured a seasonal best 6k time of 22:15.89.
Teammate Katie Hirko (Oley, Pa.) came to compete also as she finished second for the Bucs in her first race of the season with a time of 22:57.46.
Junior Macy Carrier (Bluff City, Tenn.), freshman Kaitlyn Lay (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Nicki Smith (Urbandale, Iowa) completed the top five performances for the Bucs and together they finished 100 out of 207 runners.
For the entire invitational the women finished with 200 points and finished ninth, surpassing three Southern Conference opponents (WCU, Wofford, VMI).
This meet was very vital for the Bucs as it was their last performance before the SoCon Championship on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Camp Jordan Arena, hosted by the University of Chattanooga.
Women begin at 10:00 a.m. and men at 10:45 a.m.
