Fairfax- George Mason men's and women's cross country squad traveled to Cedarville, Ohio to compete for the A10 Championships hosted by Dayton.
The men's 8k was initially supposed to start at 10 am but a delay of lightning and heavy rain pushed back the start time to 10:40 am. The women's 6k was also pushed back to start at 11:30 am.
Even with the slight drizzling of rain and the cold temperatures, the men were all lined up to commence the A10 Championships. Wesley Bond has had top-tier performances this season and he maintained that momentum by placing second overall with a time of 24:05.73. Because of his impeccable performance, Wesley Bond was awarded a spot on the First Team All-Conference. The freshman, Gavin Mogck, had nerves of steel and finished 30th overall, 2nd amongst the GMU team, with a time of 24:51.87. Nick Emmert was not far behind, placing 34th with a time of 24:54.48. Kai Muniz finished 66th overall and Alex DeRoussel 70th to complete the first five to score for the Patriots.
"For the men, as predicted, it was a very equitable field - the A10 keeps getting deeper and deeper every year", said Coach Gerard. "To put it in perspective, Wes Bond's performance was the second best time ever run on that course and the top 20 racers today would have been in the top-25 times ever run before this weekend so that gives some perspective on the strength of the A10 right now. Teamwise, we had our best races of the year out of basically our entire top five today which is what we bank on at the championships but got dinged by Mason Love being down sick. It bodes well for the NCAA regional in 2 weeks if we can get him back at full capacity but, either way, it was tremendous day out of the top group.
Once the men's race was finalized, it was time for the women to line up at the starting line to write their own story. Kate O'Neill did not lose her stride and stayed in the front for majority of the race and ultimately finishing in 11th with a time of 21:27.14. Because of her placement, Kate O 'Neill earned a spot on the First Team All-Conference, which she was also part of last year. Nourene Nabbus battled it out with many runners around her to finish in 37th overall, 2nd amongst the GMU team, with a time of 22:21.54. The newcomer, Sarah Clark, maintained her cool and proved once again that she is ready for the big stages. Sarah Clark placed 44th with a time of 22:33.59, 3rd among her teammates. McKenzie Dillman (60th, 22:48.38) and Katryna Aulenbach (85th, 23:20.21) took up the last two spots for George Mason to score points.
"The Atlantic 10 meet never fails to deliver", said Coach Tony. "We knew heading into this meet that, for as long as we've been in the league, it has never had this much quality and this much parity at the same time. Almost every team had five high-octane women with a fastball, and they were dealing today. Usually there are some gaps and weaknesses from our competitors to capitalize on, but those just didn't exist this year. That said, I think our women represented Mason really well. They executed very well for having such a young squad, and gave it their all and kept it honest. I'm grateful they emptied the tank and I'm looking forward to using this exposure to get even better; the A10 favors the experienced. We are also thrilled for Kate for leading the team and earning First Team All Conference again. I think with a little recovery, we will be eager to head to NCAA Southeast Championships- we've got more juice in this orange".
George Mason's next meet will be at Upstate, South Carolina for the NCAA SE Regional Championships on November 10th.
