Richmond, Va - The George Mason women's cross country team opened the 2023 season with a sixth place finish at the Alumni Spider Open, hosted by Richmond at Pole Green Park today.

The University of Virginia won the 16-team race, followed by William & Mary and Georgetown.

Kate O'Neill led Mason with a 14th place finish with a time of 14:06.7.  Nourene Nabbus kept pace and finished in 30th with the time of 14:41.4 finishing in second for the Green and Gold runners.

It their first collegiate race, freshmen Sarah Clark and Ava Bordner finished in 33rd and 42nd. Clark pushed the experienced players and finished in 14:45.1. Bordner also came in hot and finished with a time 15:09.3. 

"Kate O'Neill did a very nice job, mixing it up with the heavy hitters from UVA and Georgetown", said Coach Gerard. "It was a positive day...don't get too high or too low, there is still eight weeks left for the championships...and we move forward." 

Mason will next compete on September 15th when they travel down to Lee Hall Mansion, Newport News, VA. They will be competing in the CNU Cross Country Invitational which starts at 5pm.

1 Virginia 29
2 William & Mary 75
3 Georgetown 76
4 Richmond 86
5 Delaware 144
6 George Mason 165
7 VCU 210
8 American 214
9 Longwood 287 
10 James Madison 324
11 VMI 340
12 Christopher Newport 361
13 Hampton 364
14 Mary Washington 443 
15 St. Mary's (Md.) 453 
16 Bowie State 506