Live Results
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. -- The Christopher Newport cross country teams will open the 2025 season on Saturday morning when the Captains take part in the Spider Alumni Open at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Action gets underway with the men's 6k at 9:15 a.m. Later, the women will head out for the 4k beginning at 9:50 a.m. For those fans unable to attend the meet, live results will be available at RichmondSpiders.com. A direct link can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
During the lid-lifter, the Captains will test themselves against representatives from 15 other colleges. Among Saturday's competition, 11 Division I programs will be in the field, including Virginia, which boasts the nation's sixth-ranked men's squad and 20th-ranked women's crew. Meanwhile, the Division III opponents include Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference rival Mary Washington.
Currently, 27 student-athletes are scheduled to represent CNU on Saturday with 14 women and 13 men entered in the meet. That group includes eight Captains who will be making their collegiate debut.
In addition to the newcomers, 16 veterans will be returning to the Spider Alumni Open. That group includes
Tom Foti,
Luke Tompkins, and
Taylor Dalton, who have all run in the meet during each of the past three years. During their tenure, each of those standouts has a pair of top-100 finishes at the competition. Leading the way, Foti came in 51st last year after finishing in 19:32.1, while Tompkins was 53rd in 19:36.6. Two years earlier, Dalton led the trio with a 73rd-place showing in 21:01.2.
Along with the most experienced runners,
Andrew Janetsky,
Kayla Lopez, and
Sarah Dake return to Pole Green Park after historic efforts last fall. During the 2024 Spider Alumni Open, Janetsky finished the 6k in 19:20.5, which was the fourth-fastest time in program history and earned him the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Runner of the Week honor.
On the women's side, Lopez threw down a time of 15:23.3 in the 4k, which moved her to fourth on the school's all-time performance list. Seconds later, Dake crossed in 15:27.3, which equaled the fifth-fastest effort in program history.
Moments after Lopez and Dake completed the course last year,
Lena Blagg also broke the 16-minute barrier after finishing in 15:58.2. In 2022,
Megan Smith also accomplished that feat after completing the same course in 15:42.6 during her collegiate debut.
In addition to the historic performers,
Josie Brumfield,
Kevin Farnsworth,
Courtney Mudd, and
Clayton Rankin will all be participating in their third career Spider Alumni Open as well.
Following Saturday's meet, Christopher Newport will return to action on September 12 when the Captains host the CNU Invitational at Lee Hall Mansion.
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