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 women's team competed well against tough competition, finishing second as a team behind regionally-ranked Southern Virginia. In particular, sophomore Erin Loker enjoyed an excellent evening, finishing third overall behind the Southern Virginia duo of Emma Hillam and Sasha Braddy.

Highlights

• Team Score: 59 points (2nd of 4)
• Loker's time of 19:26.2 is a college 5k PR by 51 seconds, surpassing her time of 20:17.4 in the Lancer Pink Invitational last year. It is also the fastest time ever for an EMU woman on the current home course, which has been in use since 2019. The previous EMU women's course record was 19:49.1 by Lucy Unzicker in 2023. 
• Lauren Kauffman also placed in the top 10 for the Royals, coming home eighth with a time of 20:28.7, a seven-second improvement from her previous college 5k PR.
• Elili Asefa slotted into 11th place, crossing the finish line in a time of 21:05.6.
• Claire Hurst and Zoe Clymer rounded out the scoring five for the Royals, placing 22nd and 23rd, respectively.
• Juliette Soos (24^th/23:48.5), Sarah Wheeler (29^th/25:34.7), Daisy Buller (30^th/25:35.6), and Emmy Teodoro (33^rd/29:26.8) also compete for women's XC in their home meet.

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.