WASHINGTON – The American University cross country program is traveling south to compete at the Pirate Invitational hosted by East Carolina University on Friday, Oct. 4 at Lake Kristi in Greenville, NC. The men will race another 8k and the women will race another 6k on Friday morning.
Lake Kristi was most notably the site of the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championships, and hosted the NCAA DI Southeast Regional Championship from 2002-2005. Friday's races are set on a spectator-friendly golf course that is mostly flat, primed to yield fast times.
ECU PIRATE INVITATIONAL INFO
- Men's 8k: 9 a.m. EST
- Women's 6k: 9:45 a.m. EST
- Course: Lake Kristi
- Live Results
In their last competition, the women's team finished 17th at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., against national-caliber competition. The squad was led by fifth year
June Mwaniki, who crossed the line in 23:53.3 in the 6k race. Junior
Kate Riley finished second on the team in 24:35.1, followed by senior
Lucia Ianello with another top-5 performance on the AU squad (24:54.1).
On the men's side, the Eagles were led again by junior
Kaden Kluth. Kluth crossed the line in 25:54.2 in the 8k race, grabbing a top 50 finish and leading the men's squad to 13th place. Following him were juniors
Carver Morgan (26:12.5) and
Cooper Michaud (26:45.0), both placing in the top 100.
The Eagles experienced a high level of competition and a difficult course at the Roy Griak Invitational that, along with sickness and injuries, led to struggles in performance. As they approach the same distances against more top competitors on Friday, both teams look to fine-tune their race strategies and composure on a faster course.
For the latest on the Eagles Cross Country and Track teams, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the squad on Instagram (
@AU_TrackXC) and Twitter (
@AU_TrackXC).
STARTING LINE: WOMEN
Lucia Ianello
Kara Langbaum
Scarlett Lestina
Fiona Murphy
June Mwaniki
Zoe Rector
Kate Riley
Annie Ripol
Sophia Staiger
Skyler Tatum
STARTING LINE: MEN
Mathias Deldicque
Jaden Frederick
Barak Goldstein
Hayden Hauser
Kaden Kluth
David Manfredi
Daniel Messer
Cooper Michaud
Carver Morgan
Danny O'Neill
Ty Parker
Noah Smith
Jacob West
Zack Zerbe
