Cross country runs at Waynesburg Saturday

Last Saturday, the Carnegie Mellon cross country teams competed in the Waynesburg Invitational in Waynesburg, Pa. Despite the rainy conditions, the Tartans delivered a solid performance overall.

Both the men’s and women’s team came in sixth place out of 13 teams with 143 and 131 points, respectively. Allegheny College finished first on the men’s side with 27 points and Messiah College won the women’s race with 55 points.

For the men’s team, first-year Matt Jacob had a tremendous debut race, finishing fourth overall with a time of 26:41. His time put him in a position to compete for a spot in the starting squad. Sophomore Erik Kallenbach (27:40) and first-year Rob Morhard (27:59) took 26th and 33rd, respectively.

Juniors Josh Finkle (28:07) and Chris Rizzo (28:20) followed to place 38th and 42nd, respectively. Sophomore Jonathan Matusky finished 46th with a time of 28:38 while first-year Kyle Andrews took 47th with a time of 28:38.

“Our top guys haven’t raced yet, so I can’t wait to see how well they’re going to do in the next few races,” Matusky said. “[But] I’m especially happy to see the excellent performances of our three new freshmen — Matt Jacob, Rob Morhard, and Kyle Andrews.”

On the women’s side, first-year Christine Warner (24:30) also impressed with a 20th-place finish overall.

First-year Cassie Wallace followed her solid performance from last week with a 21st-place finish in a time of 24:32.

Behind the rookies, senior Carolyn Clayton and sophomore Courtney Baker took 24th and 27th with times of 24:48 and 25:25, respectively.

Junior Anna Lenhart (25:25) and sophomore Danielle Morse (25:47) finished 39th and 43rd, respectively. Sophomore Laura McKee finished 44th overall with a time of 25:49.

The bad weather didn’t seem to faze the runners. “The weather conditions were pretty awesome as far as running is concerned,” Andrews said.

“The race started out very humid and muggy, but halfway through the race, it started to rain, which helps to cool things down and makes breathing easier.”

The Tartans cross country teams will hit the road to compete at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. for a Saturday race.