LEESBURG, Va.- Not even the heat could stop the George Mason men's and women's cross country teams from each earning first place team finishes in the Mason Invitational at the Oatlands Plantation on Saturday morning.
Hot conditions made for tough running, however both teams were able finish in first after racing was completed. The men's team finished ahead of UNC Wilmington, American University and Norfolk State University while the women came out on top over UNC Wilmington, Norfolk State and the University of the District of Columbia.
Along with first place team finishes Mason was also able to place the top collegiate runners in each event. Redshirt senior Wil McReynolds was first to finish for Mason in the men's 8k and first overall collegiately in a time of 27:20. Senior Michael Conway would cross the line four seconds later for a second place time of 27:24. Sean Nestor and Taylor Torino also had top finishes for Mason, completing their races in 27:38 and 27:50, respectively. Coach Andrew Gerard was impressed with the team despite the conditions on the course.
“This is probably the toughest course that we run on all year, and it is really hot and uncomfortable out here so the guys had a pretty conservative race plan and they followed through on that pretty well” said Gerard after the race.
Bethany Sachtleben was the individual first place finisher in the women's 6k, beating out the second place time by almost two minutes in 22:36. Freshman Meghan Blackstone and sophomore Jennifer Nakamura also had top-five finishes for the Patriots. Nakamura crossed the line in third with a time of 24:37 while Blackstone would cross for fourth just six seconds later (24:43). Coach Sita Ewell liked what she saw from her team this week.
“We raced with the other teams and looked a little bit more competitive than what we did last week, so I was happy under the circumstances of the heat.”
Both the men's women's teams continue training for the next two weeks before heading to North Carolina for the Blue Ridge Open on Saturday, October 19.
