FAIRFAX, Va. – Running in George Mason's inaugural Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships, junior Bethany Sachtleben finished ahead of 110 competitors as she won the women's individual 5k championship at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. on Saturday morning.
Sachtleben crossed the line in a winning time of 16:54.6, eight seconds ahead of second place Jillian Prentice (17:02.7) of Richmond University. The two remained in close distance until Sachtleben started to pull away around the 13 minute mark, never looking back.
As a team, the women placed eighth out of 12 teams with 200 points while the men placed third out of 13 teams with 97 points. Preseason favorite La Salle won the men's team championship and Duquesne was able to edge out host team Richmond for the women's team championship.
Michael Conway was the top finisher for Mason in the men's 8k race, clocking a time of 24:22.1 to place him 11th overall out of 117 runners. The top 15 finish also earns Conway a spot on the All-Conference team along with Sachtleben and men's senior John Holt who crossed the line in 14th place in a time of 24:27.5.
The Mason men also claimed 23rd through 25th place, as Wil McReynolds, Alex Ott and Craig Morgan finished the event one after the other. McReynolds led the threesome with a time of 24:43.4 followed by Ott and Morgan in times of 24:44.1 and 24:45.6, respectively. Sean Nestor placed 35th overall with a time of 24:55.5.
Jennifer Nakamura was the second Patriot to finish behind Sachtleben, completing the 5k course in 18:10.5 for a 34th place finish. Freshman Meghan Blackstone also cracked the top-50 runners, finishing 49th overall in a time of 18:30.6. Katie Triechel was next for Mason in a time of 18:47.2, good for 64th, followed up by Lauren Givens (19:01.5) and Peyton Lowe (19:05.2).
Next on the schedule for Mason cross country are NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Friday, November 15. Racing will take place on another course that the Patriots have run on this season, Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. Racing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
