By: Donald Menke ~Guest Writer~

Xavier Cross Country continued to get ready for the Big East Conference Championships with the All-Ohio Invitational and the Paul Short Run, both on Oct. 2. At the All-Ohio Invitational, Xavier freshman Ryan Nephew led the Xavier men’s runners with a time of 26:01 in the men’s 8K event, placing him 94th out of 647 runners. Newswire photo by Adam Spegele Newswire photo by Adam Spegele Xavier has dropped to 3-3 at home this season. It was 8-1-1 last season. Redshirt junior defenseman Chris Moore, from Louisville, Ky., has two goals this season. The second finisher for the men was Grayson Jenkins at 27:03, which placed him 234th. Carter Macey finished 242th with a time of 27:07. The fourth runner for the men’s team, Austin Winter, was forced to withdraw from the race.

The women’s team placed 21st out of the 48 teams at the invitational. Haley Jerabek led the women’s team with a time of 23:10, placing 73rd out of 592 runners. The women’s team had ten runners in total: Victoria Chiller, Isabel Roberts-Hamilton, Sarah Clark, Sarah Billingsley, Devi Jagadesan, Finola Hughes, Katie Hiskies and Maryn McCarthy, who finished in that order for the team.

At the Paul Short Run, the women’s team placed 11th out of the 35 teams that participated. Senior Sarah Mazzei led the women’s team with a time of 21:16, which is also the fifth fastest time in school history. Mazzei was not the only one to break the 22nd minute mark for the team, as Caroline Gosser, who finished 40th, Caterina Karas, who finished 78th, and Gina Genco, who placed 94th, also accomplished this feat. Xavier’s Allison Sinning finished 112th, Meghan Vogel placed 136th and Rachel Sollman finish 181st.

On the men’s side, Garrett Knapik led the team with a time of 25:27 and placed 96th out of 278 runners in the 8K race. The men finished in 25th place in a field of 27 teams. William Becker finished 127th with a time of 25:51. In addition, Aaron Peterson placed 134th, Avery Campbell finished 151st and Jordan Shepherd came in 153rd. Both teams are back in action Oct. 17 at the Pre-Nationals Race in Louisville, Ky.