ETSU cross country finished sixth out of nine schools in their first meet of the season at the Covered Bridge Open at the State Farm Fields on Aug. 30 in Boone, North Carolina.
Redshirt junior Malick Gemechu (Johnson City, Tenn.) led the Bucs, finishing sixth out of an 86-man field with a time of 25:48.91, while sophomore Genevieve Shwarz (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) earned the Southern Conference all-freshman honors with a time of 20:07.55 finishing 41st overall.
For Gemechu, this marked his second top-10 finish of his collegiate career. Gemechu’s top placement being just last season finishing fourth at High Point University Vertcross.
Freshman Seth Bowden (Maryville, Tennessee) and freshman Myles Stoots (Mobile, Alabama) made their collegiate debuts in North Carolina, finishing 25th and 34th place with Bowden clocking a time of 26:36.60 and Stoots in 27:02.27. Freshman Lindsay Holliday (Maryville, Tennessee) also made her collegiate debut, finishing 58th in 20:40.79.
Overall, the Bucs finished the opener in fifth place in the nine-team field with 98 points for the Blue and Gold. The team was just four points short to taking fourth place from High Point and eight points from taking third from East Carolina.
Junior Makayla Shaw (Jonesborough, Tenn.) and senior Mia DePillo (Fort Wayne, Ind.) made top three for the Bucs, with Shaw finishing at 20:20.24 and DePillo just four seconds later at 20:24.80.
Florida State won the team championship, while East Carolina and High point finished second and third. Florida State took both the team and individual titles for the men’s side, while the hosting team, Appalachian State, finished with 49 points combined to finish runner-up.
ETSU women were scheduled to run a 5K race but ended up running the extra 200 meters.
The Bucs continue the season on Friday, Sept. 13, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for the USC Upstate Eye Opener.
