Final Results
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. -- Kicking off the 2024 campaign in fine fashion, the Christopher Newport cross country teams rewrote the record books as nearly a dozen Captains established new PRs during a dominant performance at the Spider Alumni Open on Saturday morning at Pole Green Park.
During the meet, which was overflowing with Division I programs, the men accumulated a score of 200, while the women finished at 295. Both of those marks placed the Captains first among Division III squads. Overall, the men were 6th in the field, while the women placed 11th.
During the competition, three Captains entered the history books in their respective races. On the women's side,
Kayla Lopez jumped to fourth in program history in the 4k after coming in 63rd in 15:23.3.
Sarah Dake also moved to sixth on the all-time charts after clocking in at 15:27.3, which placed her 67th in the field.
Those times were the top marks by a Captain since former standout Mae Savoie set the school record of 15:06.1 at the same course in 2022.
The men also placed a runner on the program's all-time 6k list after
Andrew Janetsky shined in his collegiate debut. During the race, the freshman phenom finished 39th in 19:20.5. That was the fourth-fastest time in program history and the top effort since
John Vogel posted a 19:14.3 clocking at the same competition in 2022.
Along with Janetsky's historic performance, several veterans established new 6k PRs for the men. At the top of the list,
Clayton Rankin and
Tom Foti cut over 90 seconds off their previous marks. Rankin finished 48th in 19:27.8, while Foti placed 51st in 19:32.1.
Continuing the tight pack,
Luke Tompkins crossed in 19:36.6, which put him 53rd overall and established his own personal-best. Shortly thereafter,
Johnny Atienza (20:13.7),
Kevin Farnsworth (20:16.2),
Luke Hawkins (20:19.6), and
Taylor Dalton (20:20.0) all finished within seven seconds of each other. With their times, Atienza, Farnsworth, and Dalton all set new PRs.
Later in the race,
Cohen King cut over a minute off his personal-best with a 20:28.7 clocking, while
Joe Negron sliced 12 seconds off his previous 6k mark with a 22:12.3 showcase.
On the women's side,
Courtney Mudd continued the parade of PRs with a time of 16:01.2 in the 4k. Meanwhile, freshman
Lena Blagg led the first-year competitors with a mark of 15:58.2. Both of those clockings placed them in the top-100 of the star-studded race.
Rounding out the squad's top-seven, three other freshmen made their presence felt on Saturday.
Sarah Bland clocked in at 16:46.2,
Katherine Streeter added a mark of 17:06.8, and
Sydney Chipperfield crossed the line in 17:53.2.
Christopher Newport will return to action on September 13 when the Captains host the CNU Invitational at Lee Hall Mansion.
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