BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The VMI men's cross country team continued their strong season Saturday morning, taking 21st place of 44 teams at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh. Donnie Mikels led the men with his time of 24:45, coming in 41st overall, while on the women's side, Kelsey Stafford paced the team with her time of 23:24.
Mikels has led the team in each of the first three competitions of the season, and he was again followed by Anthony Harris, who turned in a time of 25:15 for 93rd place overall. Placing third amongst the Keydets and 106th overall was sophomore Ben Switzer (25:19), who finished among the team's top three finishers for the first time this season. Rounding out the scoring for VMI was sophomore Kurt Able (25:56, 170th overall) and junior Edwin Lugo (25:59, 179th), who also turned in his best race of the season.
“Overall, I thought we ran well,” said VMI head cross country coach Paul Spangler. “Our top three on the men's side ran great, and everybody, on both the men's and women's side ran lifetime bests. It was a fast course, the ground was hard, no sharp turns, but it made for great competition. This is one of the premier cross country meets on the Eastern Seaboard, there were some nationally ranked teams and most teams competing were regionally ranked. We were glad to defeat several of the teams that we have not been able to in the past, including Richmond, VCU and Davidson, that is a good mark of how far this program has come along. But even though we ran well today, there's always room for improvement, after our top three, I feel like we could've run better. On the women's side, despite a disappointing team result, I think that our ladies still ran well. They did a solid job, there was some outstanding competition in this race.”
A pair of freshmen also competed for the men, as Patrick Eggleston (26:12, 205th) and Andrew Rademaker (26:13, 207th) rounded out the top seven for the men.
Taking the men's race was Ryan Sheehan (23:53) from St. Francis (Pa.), while Georgetown took the team title with a score of 123, topping LaSalle with a score of 154. The Keydets 21st place finish put them ahead of Richmond (28th), Big South rival Winthrop (31st), Maryland (32nd), Davidson (36th) and VCU (37th). Columbia took the race on the women's side, while Georgetown's Elizabeth Maloy (20:28) took individual honors.
On the women's side, three freshmen led the Keydets, as Stafford paced VMI with her time of 23:24, placing her 212th overall. Christina Mowatt-Larssen (24:09, 262nd) was the second Keydet finisher, while Roxanne Franck (24:48, 293rd) was the team's third finisher. Sophomore Abby Ward (25:35, 304th) and freshman Sara Hanson (31:00, 310th) rounded out the competing Keydets, as the team finished in 47th place.
Men's Results
21. Va Military Institute
1229 41 Donnie Mikels, So, Va Military Institute 24:45 4:59
1226 93 Anthony Harris, Jr, Va Military Institute 25:15 5:05
1231 106 Ben Switzer, So, Va Military Institute 25:19 5:06
1224 170 Kurt Able, So, Va Military Institute 25:56 5:14
1228 179 Edwin Lugo, Jr, Va Military Institute 25:59 5:14
1225 205 Patrick Eggleston, Fr, Va Military Institute 26:12 5:17
1230 207 Andrew Rademaker, Fr, Va Military Institute 26:13 5:17
Women's Results
47. Va Military Institute
478 212 Kelsey Stafford, Fr*, Va Military Institute 23:24.6 6:17
476 262 Christina Mowatt-Larssen, Fr*, Va Military Institute 24:09.0 6:28
474 293 Roxanne Franck, Fr*, Va Military Institute 24:48.4 6:39
480 304 Abby Ward, So*, Va Military Institute 25:35.0 6:52
475 310 Sara Hanson, Fr*, Va Military Institute 31:00.6 8:19
