Despite incredibly windy and rainy conditions at the Berry College (Ga.) Invitational, the Emory men's and women's cross country teams finished the regular season strong, placing first out of 15 other teams and second out of 13, respectively, on Oct. 19. The men's team finished with 20 points in the 8K, handily defeating Oglethorpe University (Ga.), who scored 66 points. The women's team finished in second place in the 6K with a strong 48 points, only slightly behind the Division I University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, who tallied 26 points.
Though senior captain Jordan Burgess was unable to compete due to injury, she explained that she was extremely impressed with the showings of both teams as she watched from the sidelines.
"Especially given the harsh conditions, each team stepped up and gave very strong performances, and showed what we've been working on all year," Burgess said.
Junior Jack Whetstone led the Emory men’s team with a 25:39.69 finish time in the 8K, placing him third overall behind two unattached racers from the University of Georgia but first among those competing for points. Sophomore Brett Lucas followed in fourth place with a time of 25:48.46, ahead of fellow sophomore Spencer Moore (25:57.40) and junior John Cox (26:02.26), who took seventh and eighth place respectively. Junior Matt Dillon took the final scoring slot with a time of 26:22.23, barely edging out freshman teammate Bradshaw Lathbury, who finished with a time of 26:22.55.
Junior Susie Martin led the women’s team, finishing fourth overall with a time of 22:41.8 in the 6K. Junior Carrie McIntyre followed slightly behind with an impressive time of 23:44.49 to take 12th place. Junior Abby Durfee took 15th place with a time of 23:52.74, followed by freshmen Leah Clark (23:59.07), Shana Fitzmaurice (24:01.11) and Annika Urban (24:09.42) finishing in 16th, 17th and 18th place, respectively.
Head Coach Linh Nguyen expressed his satisfaction with both teams following their strong performances and attributed their successes to hard work and positive mindsets.
"A lot of our runners ran their personal bests,” Nguyen said. “And it was a hard course, so if you can run your personal best on a hard course, that's a good sign you're in a good place."
Often referred to as the "bloodbath” by the team, the Berry Invitational is the final race of the regular season before 10 racers from each team will be chosen to represent Emory on Nov. 2 at the University Athletic Association Conference Championships at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pa.
