HARRISONBURG, Va.- EMU Cross Country toed the starting line for the first time in 2025 on Friday, racing in front of a home crowd in the annual EMU Heritage XC Invitational.
The men's team took to the course against Southern Virginia and the JMU Running Club team. At the finish, it was sophomore
Luke Buckwalter who emerged as the top Royal, finishing third
behind race winner Joseph Hughes and runner-up Taylor Weiland, both from Southern Virginia.
Highlights
- Team Score: 50 points (3rd of 3)
- Buckwalter completed the five-kilometer (3.1 mile) race in 17:25.1, running more than a minute and a half faster than he did in the last year's home meet.
- Ben Huyard placed ninth with a 5k time of 18:32.5, while Nick Porcaro rounded out the top 10, posting a time of 18:40.4 in his college debut.
- First-year Logan Byrd and junior Alex Belisle wrapped up the scoring five for the Royals, placing 13th (18:54.4) and 15th (18:58.8), respectively.
- Sam Myers (17th/19:22.6), Ethan Kanagy (21st/20:24.2), Abenezer Abebe (24th/20:30.9), and Noah Buckwalter (25th/20:53.5) also competed for men's cross country in the home opener.
What's Next
The EMU cross country teams will head east in two weeks to compete in the CNU Invitational on Friday, Sept. 12 at Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News, Va. The meet gets underway at 5:30 p.m. with the Men's 8k, with the Women's 6k to follow at 6:20 p.m.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the EMU cross country program this year, follow EMU Athletics on Instagram, like EMU Athletics on Facebook or visit our website.
