CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Capital women’s and men’s cross country teams posted solid efforts at the 18th Annual Cedarville University Friendship Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. CU’s women placed ninth overall out of 18 teams while the men were 10th out of 20 teams.
“Overall we had another strong performance by both squads,” Capital Head Coach Rachel Barends said. “Shelly (Gaines) returned to form to compliment strong finishes by Kara and Lindsay on the women’s side. Our men also had a very strong pack that gives us the potential of doing very well in the future this season.”
The Crusader women were led by senior Shelly Gaines (Grove City, Ohio/Central Crossing HS) who finished 12th overall with a time of 19:55.91 while classmate Kara Baker (Bellevue, Ohio/Sandusky Perkins HS) placed 44th in a time of 21:17.87.
Sophomore Lindsay Dearth (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South HS) followed closely behind as she crossed the line at 22:09.54 to place 66th and fellow sophomore Betsy Melick (Amherst, Ohio/Amherst Steele HS) ran a time of 24:07.94 to finish in 116th place.
Senior Amy Shaw (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland HS) was the fifth Crusader to finish the race in 24:48.49 while three freshmen rounded out the Capital women’s contingent. Marissa Snyder (Montpelier, Ohio/Montpelier HS) ran a 25:15.51 while Jacquline Swietochowiski (Des Plaines, Ohio/Maine West HS) and Hannah Childs (Grandview Heights, Ohio/Grandview Heights HS) were grouped shortly behind with times of 26:11.01 and 26:26.89 respectively.
The Capital men had a group of five runners that crossed the finish line within 59 seconds of each other led by senior Bryan DeArdo (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central HS) who placed 55th in a time of 28:19.91.
Freshman Alex Moore (Hillard, Ohio/Hillard Davidson HS) was just two spots back in 57th place while crossing the line at 28:24.53 while junior Joel Eversole (Waverly, Ohio/Waverly HS) ran a 28:35.39 to place 67th overall. Sophomore Nate Wiring (North Lewisburg, Ohio/Tri-County HS) finished in 72nd place with a time of 28.41.70 and classmate Emerson Rhoad (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville HS) was 88th individually after running a 29:18.73.
The Crusaders also had contributions from senior Joe Miceli (Newark, Ohio/Newark Catholic HS) and freshman Conrad Booth (Dutch Harbor, Alk./Unalaska City HS) who finished in 31:32.00 and 31:33.37 respectively while senior Kevin Pisle (Lima, Ohio/Lima Shawnee HS) rounded out the squad in a time of 33:41.48.
Capital will be back in action again next Saturday at the Otterbein Invitational.