Cross Country Keeps Pace in Regional Rankings, Competes Well in Recent Invitationals
Jaeger Center (Aly Wein/The Gettysburgian)
By Kristoffer Nikias, Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s cross country teams had strong showings over the past two weekends, as they both competed in the Mike Woods Invitational and the Aubrey Shenk invitational, the latter hosted at home on the battlefields of Gettysburg.
The men’s team featured two fast performances by junior Connor Elliott, who placed 47th in the Mike Woods invitational and 9th in the Aubrey Shenk invitational. His 8K time of 26:08 at Mike Woods was a personal-best, and he followed it up at home with another impressive time of 26:57. Luke Matzke ’22 also finished in the top 15 in the Aubrey Shenk invitational, securing a PR of 27:10. The Bullets came in fifth out of ten teams (including some Division I and II schools) with a score of 110, showing out for the home crowd.
Junior Amy Cantrell stood out for the women’s team at the Mike Woods Invitational, placing 40th in the field of 322 runners with a 6K time of 23:45. Kate O’Brien ’23, who finished 2nd for the Bullets, ran the course in 24:12, enough for 66th place. The team placed 13th of 29 teams two weekends ago at Mike Woods. Back home in the Aubrey Shenk invitational, the women finished 5th out of 14 teams in the 32nd annual event. O’Brien once again ran a great race as she finished with a time of 24:23, putting her as the top runner for the Bullets. Cantrell was right behind her, clocking in at 24:34. O’Brien finished in 11th, while Cantrell finished 40th, the two runners trading places between invitationals.
The men’s team is still ranked 7th in the region, a position that they maintained after both invitationals these past weekends. The women’s team was ranked 9th in the region, and both teams have solidified themselves as competitors in the field of teams running against them. Both teams will compete in the Centennial Conference Championship on October 30th, hosted by Johns Hopkins. Eyes will be on Elliott and O’Brien to keep leading the pack to success.
