SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Appalachian State University women's cross country racked up 86 points to take second at the USC Upstate Invitational on Saturday morning. Lipscomb grabbed the team title collecting 20 points, and Kennesaw State finished in third with 91 points.
“I am ecstatic for the ladies that competed today,” said head coach Michael Curcio. “We accomplished our main objectives. The ladies ran personal bests, and we had three under 19 minutes. We got a valuable experience against division one programs. Looking at the line up before the race, the ladies agreed that a second place finish was a good goal going up against three A-SUN conference champions. The ladies went out as a group and pressed along in the chase pack.”
Kidan Kidane of Kennesaw State took home the individual title crossing the 5k finish line in 17:39.63. Striding behind her was Sally Larson and Avery Franklin of Lipscomb who finished in second and third respectively.
Erin Jameson was the Mountaineer's first runner to reach the tape with a time of 18:43.12 to place 17th out of 165 competitors. Finishing two spots behind Jameson was freshman Grace Brooks who stormed across the finish line in 18:50.73 (20th). Rounding out the top three competitors from Appalachian was freshman Sarah Venable who placed 24th with a 5k effort of 18:58.97.
Other scorers for the Mountaineers were Kate Butler, who clocked a time of 19:01.59 to place 27th, and Megan Scannell, who broke past the tape in 19:06.07 to finish 30th.
“I am extremely proud of Erin Jameson leading the charge,” continued Curcio. “Grace Brooks did a phenomenal job getting a huge PR. Also, the top five of Venable, Butler and Scannell finished within 25 seconds of each other. All in all, it was a productive weekend. It bodes well for the future.”
Lastly, Leigh Harrow and Molly Pusateri hustled to the line and both landed inside the top 50 running 19:09.34 (32nd) and 19:44.95 (50th) respectively.
Up Next
The Black and Gold will hit the course in two weeks on Friday, Oct. 14 at the HPU VertCross Invitational. The women's 6k race will start at 5:15, following the men's 8k competition.
