ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams race for the second time this season when they travel to the Virginia Tech Alumni Invite Friday morning.
SCHEDULE
9:00 a.m. – Men's 8,000-meter race
10:00 a.m. – Women's 6,000-meter race
LAST TIME OUT
This will be CU's second time traveling to Virginia Tech after the Mountain Lions opened the season in Blacksburg, Virginia on September 6. The Concord men finished fifth while the women collect a sixth-place team finish. Sophomore
Braden Ward was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions as he placed 23
rd in a time of 18:45 for the 6,000-meter terrain. Senior
Logan Zuchelli was two seconds and two spots behind Ward as he finished in the top 25. Sophomore
Andrew Tickle had a strong start to his second season as he ran 19:14 and finished 40
th. Junior
Alex Irvin was 44
th in 19:21 and sophomore
AJ Skeens rounded out CU's top five in 56
th (20:08).
Junior
Katy Walkup led the way for CU women as her time of 15:34 was good enough for 27
th. Senior
Madison Cornett was five spots behind Walkup in 15:59. Freshman
Kate Kelly made a strong first impression by clocking 16:40 for the 4,000-meter distance. Sophomore
Sara Turner came through in 16:46 which was 44
th. Junior
Emma Jenkins was Concord's final scoring runner in 17:21.
VIRGINIA TECH NOTES
Concord will be up against the host Virginia Tech, East Tennessee State, Elizabeth City State and Radford Friday morning. The Mountain Lion men finished ahead of Radford two weeks at VT as they scored 118 to RU's 124 team points. With the opening-season performance, Concord's men are ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA Atlantic Regional Coaches' Poll this week.
Ward and Zuchelli ran Concord's fifth and sixth-fastest times in program history for the Virginia Tech 6,000-meter course last week. Tickle's time of 19:14 was the 11
th fastest for a CU athlete at VT. Irvin's showing of 19:21 is 16
th. Despite all that, this will be the first time since 2021, and just the third time since 2012 that Concord runs longer than 6,000 meters at Virginia Tech.
The Concord women also had some all-time performances at Virginia Tech—when it comes to the CU record books—two weeks ago. Walkup's time of 15:34 is tied for sixth fastest for a Mountain Lion on the 4,000-meter course. Cornett had the 14
th-fastest showing. She ran 25:29 for 6,000-meters at Virginia Tech as a freshman in 2021. Seniors
Erin O'Sullivan (25:22) and
Kaylee Dixon (33:33) are the only other current CU athletes to have run 6,000-meters at Virginia Tech.
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