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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio --- The Urbana cross country teams ran in the Wittenberg Invitational Friday night. In the season-opener for both squads, the Blue Knights finished seventh in the Men's 5K race (170) and fifth in the Women's 5K (118) hosted at the Champions Park XC Course.
For the men, the UU lineup featured seven runners and six newcomers that made collegiate racing debuts. Freshman
David Crossgrove paced the Blue Knights with a team-low 21:40.2 in 55th place. Radford transfer and Springfield Shawnee High School alum
Logan Griffith returned home and registered the second-fastest time for the Blue Knights at 22:08.7.
Rounding out the men's lineup was senior
Joe Brown (23:10.3), along with first-year runners
David Gilbert (23:33.1),
Daniel Quiroz (23:43),
Vitor Takakura (24:17.3) and
Dakota Lewis-Griggs (34:04.5).
Trine University claimed first place and also featured the top five runners in the men's race. The hosts Wittenberg finished second as Rio Grande, Columbus State CC and Urbana rounded out the top five.
On the women's side, UU posted a mile team average of 33:52 and finished in fifth place. Senior
Ashley Long led the way in 24th place for the Blue Knights with a final time of 26:03.1. Followed close behind were juniors
Ashlynn Miller (32.23.6) and
Alyssa Myers (35:54.8) in 27th and 37th place, respectively.
Closing out the UU women's lineup was sophomore
Ash Lee Hummer with a final time of 35:57.8 (38th) and freshman
Sheyenne Wilhelm with a mark of 39:57 (42nd).
Trine and Wittenberg also finished atop the team final team standings during the women's race, while Wilberforce and Central State ended up just above the Blue Knights.
// UP NEXT
Urbana will travel next weekend to Bethany, West Virginia for the Bethany College Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 8.
