CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The App State men's and women's cross country teams rounded out competition at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday. Redshirt freshman
Noah Martinson and sophomore
Breanna Budzinski set pace for the Mountaineers in the men's 10K and women's 6K, respectively.
Four Mountaineers clocked personal bests in the men's 10K, led by Martinson, who crossed the finish line with a personal best of 30:37.1 to place 43rd out of 234 competitors. With times of 31:47.3 (PR) and 31:51.0, freshman
Aidan Morrow and senior
Ethan Lipham placed 93rd and 95th, respectively. Sophomore
Thomas Wlazlowski (31:56.2, PR), redshirt senior
Chase Burrell (32:11.8), and
Memphis Rich (32:12.9, PR) finished among the top 115.
"The men put themselves in it early with Thomas and Noah and the group close," said men's distance coach
Brad Herbster. "We fell apart in the middle and that is where we need to be tough. This was not the standard or the expectation we have set."
App State placed 16th overall in the men's team standings with 441 points.
Budzinski set pace for the Mountaineers in the women's 6K with a time of 21:52.3. Budzinski, who was 10 seconds shy of her personal best, was positioned at 147th at the 2K split, but rose 26 spots before placing 121st out of 255 competitors. Freshmen
Elizabeth McCart and
Josie Jackson rounded out the top 135 with times of 22:02.6 and 22:06.1, respectively. Rounding out the Mountaineers' scorers were freshmen
Tessa Massa (22:34.2) and
Ashby Williams (22:34.2).
"The team put in great work throughout the season that only partially reflected in our team result," said women's distance coach
Annie Richards. "We're a bit disappointed with our team finish and know that a big part of it came from a slow start for the first half of the race that didn't set us up well for a competitive second half. We have a young group of athletes who will return next season with the experience and strength they've built this year, and I look forward to seeing how they grow from today."
The Mountaineers placed 22nd in the women's team standings with 700 points.
South Carolina's Salma Elbadra placed first in the women's 6K with a time of 19:03.1. NC State and South Carolina finished first and second, respectively, in the team standings to advance to the NCAA Championships.
Wake Forest's Rocky Hansen won the men's 10K with a time of 29:10.4, leading the Demon Deacons to a first-place team finish and automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships. Eastern Kentucky placed second in the team standings to advance to the championship meet.
