WASHINGTON – Joshua Ellis led a 1-2-3 sweep that carried the American University men's cross country team to victory and Kassidy Ayres won the women's individual title at Saturday's DCXC/GW Invitational in Kenilworth Park.
Alaeldin Tirba and
Brendan Johnson followed Ellis to the line, as AU placed four in the top five and six in the top eight to score 38 points and best the field.
Ellis covered the 5-kilometer course in 15:42, one second ahead of Tirba and three seconds better than Johnson.
Sam Doud (5th, 16:07),
Ben Doiron (7th, 16:11) and
Matthew Rainey (8th, 16:13) also finished in the top 10 for the Eagles on the men's side.
Host George Washington was second with 67 points, followed by Howard and Catholic in the inaugural collegiate race hosted by the Colonials.
Ayres, an AU freshman who has had top-five finishes in each of her first two collegiate meets, outpaced the women's field by finishing in 18:35 over 5K. Running mate
Adriana Hooks, who has paced just behind Ayres so far this year, was third Saturday in 19:00.
The GW women put six runners in the top eight places to win with 44 points, while American tallied 61 and Howard had 85.
American is scheduled to compete next week at the Lehigh Paul Short Run on Friday and the Mason Invitational in Leesburg, Va., on Saturday.
