MECHANICSVILLE, Va.- EMU Men's Cross Country headed to the Richmond area for an overnight trip and a rare Friday morning race, competing in the Richmond Invitational on the world-renowned course at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va.
Going up against a field of mostly Division I teams, the Royals turned in some fast times running four laps of the 2k loop course for the 8k (4.96 miles) at Pole Green Park. As a team, EMU finished second among the four ODAC teams in attendance, beating out Bridgewater and Randolph while only trailing nationally-ranked Lynchburg.
High Point took home the team title with a low score of 55 points, just four points ahead of Duke. Charles Mbuthia of George Washington won individually with an 8k time of 24:17.6.
Highlights
- Team Score: 12th of 16 (382 points)
- For the second meet in a row, Theo Andreas led the way for the Royals, achieving an 8k PR time of 27:49.7 to place 87th overall.
- Not far behind him, Noah Hagberg took the 91st position, clocking in at a personal best time of 27:52.2.
- Jonah Smith completed the course in 28:23.2, beating out his pervious personal best time by 1:48. He crossed the line in 102nd place.
- Luke Buckwalter (111th/28:54.6) and Joshua Reinford (120th/29:43.9) also ran under 30 minutes for the Royals to round out the scoring five.
- Ben Huyard (138th/32:39.3), Alex Belisle (139th/32:52.8) and Ben Wheeler (144th/35:17.5) also toed the starting line for EMU.
What's Next
EMU Cross Country will wrap up the regular season portion of their schedule on Saturday, Oct. 17, when they lace up their shoes for the Roanoke South Region Showdown at Green Hill Park in Salem, Va. The meet gets underway with the women's 6k at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 8k at 11 a.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.
