Back on January 11, the SXU women’s track team started off their season competing at Lewis University in the Lewis Open. Senior runner, Rachael Dean took first place in the one mile run with a time of 5:12:84 to earn her spot to compete later in the season at the NAIA National Championships.
That was the first track event of the season for the Cougars.
A pair of runners on the men’s cross country team Chris Sarna and Chris Shellenberger both qualified for the NAIA National Championships after competing in the Fighting Bee half-marathon in Davenport, IA. Sarna finished second overall with a time of 72:16 and Shellenberger finished exactly a minute behind him with a time of 73:16.
To kick off the men’s track season, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed this past Friday, January 18th in the Lewis University Invitational in Romeoville.
In the women’s 400 meter dash, freshman Lexi McDermid finished second with a time of 1:06.31. Three Cougars topped the 800 meter run; leading the way was Dean in first place with a time 2:22.16, right behind Dean was senior Jackie Ott with a time of 2:22.50, and in third place was freshman Christa Pitts with a time of 2:32:16. Leading the way in both the 3,000 meter run and the 5,000 meter run was senior Ashley Shares. Shares finished in first in the 3,000 meter with a time of 10:52.46 and in first in the 5,000 meter with a time of 18:24.57.
Junior Shane Kenney led the way for the Cougars in the 800 meter run. Kenney finished the run in first place with a time of 1:58.10. In the men’s 1,000 meter run, freshman Eric Hancock placed second with a time of 2:39.83. Junior Brian Corcoran took first place in the 3,000 meter run finishing with a time of 9:01.63.
The Cougars started off their season with an impressive performance and only look to get better.
Both teams will be competing next Friday January, 25 and 26. The women will be competing in the Findlay University Classic in Findlay, Ohio. The men will be competing in the NAIA/NCAA III Challenge, Olivet Nazarene in Bourbonnais.
Continued success to both the men’s and women’s track teams as they look to build on alaready impressive start to their season. Good luck to the Saint Xavier track teams going forward.
weyant.w01@mymail.sxu.edu