MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – The George Mason men's and women's cross country teams began the 2021 fall campaign at the Spider Alumni Open on Saturday at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va.
"Credible opening meet today," said head coach
Andrew Gerard. "With the limited squad we raced on both sides and the short distance, the folks that raced did a very nice job and competed well. It's a short turn-around to our home meet in six days, so we'll recover, plug some additional folks into the lineup, and get ready again."
The Mason men finished fourth as a team with 89 points. UVA placed first with 22 points, followed by Richmond (56) and Christopher Newport (85).
Mason was led by a trio of runners:
Jack Ikenberry (9th, 15:07.3),
Josh Walker (10th, 15:08.7) and
James Seal (13th, 15:21.6).
Next to cross the finish line for Mason was
Kai Muniz in 33rd (15:51.4), followed by
Brendan Malone in 37th (16:01.5).
Josh Yourish rounded out the Patriots in 49th with a time of 16:25.5.
The Patriot women also placed fourth as a team with 145 points. UVA was the top team finisher (29), followed by Richmond (48) and James Madison (58).
Freshman
Farah McDaniel led the Patriots with a 21st-place finish (11:43.6).
Alexis Anderson was next to cross the line in 29th (11:59.4), followed by
Nourene Nabbus in 35th (12:10.4).
Rounding out the Patriots was
Audrey Corbet in 46th (12:24.8) and
Emily Fitch in 49th (12:30.5).
Up next, the Patriots will return home to host the Mason Invitational on Friday, Sept. 10 at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Va.
