EDWARDSVILLE, IL – The Principia men's and women's cross country teams headed over to the cross country course at SIUE on Saturday morning to race in WashU's Gabby Reuveni Invitational. Both teams ran the 5K distance in one joint race at 8:00 AM due to the intense heat.
Despite the high temperatures, both teams ran well for the first meet of the season. Junior
Holland Thomas led the men's team with a time of 17:12, just two seconds off his personal best. He finished 28th overall, but was #2 by just half a second among competitors from the SLIAC. Senior
Kennett Rampley came in next for the men in 41st place at 17:54, only eight seconds off his PR.
The next three Panthers to cross were all freshmen, so this was their first collegiate race.
Dallas Manhart finished 49th at 18:19,
Tyrone Merdian finished 58th at 19:09, and
Rowan Kirkbride came in 66th at 19:42. Senior
Augustine Magembe rounded out the men's team in 76th at 22:55, a new personal best.
For the women, junior
Nina Martinez got off to an amazing start to her season by running her fastest ever 5K by over two minutes. She finished in 29th at 21:34, over three minutes ahead of any other SLIAC women in the race. On Monday, she was named SLIAC Runner of the Week for the first time in her career.
Freshmen
Lily Hohner and
Quintasia Evans also completed their first collegiate races, with Hohner coming in 42nd at 25:31 and Evans finishing 52nd at 36:49.
The Panthers will travel up north to Grinnell College in Iowa next weekend for GC's annual Les Duke Invite.
