PITTSBURGH – The Point Park men's and women's cross country teams will compete at nearby Youthtowne Fields as Robert Morris hosts the Colonial Invitational on Friday morning in Clinton, Pa.
The men's 8k race is set for 8:30 a.m., while the women's 6k will be ran at 9:10 in the morning.
The Point Park women are coming off a first-place finish at the West Liberty Invitational last Thursday in Bethany, West Virginia. Sophomore
Cassondra O'Connor took first-place at the event, running a time of 18:03.8. She crossed the finish line 15 seconds faster than the next closest finisher.
O'Connor was the MEC Player of the Week for her efforts last Thursday.
Point Park placed five runners in the top 15 of the 5k race. After O'Connor, freshman
Zabine von Westernhagen finished fifth (19:05.2),
Aubrey Smith finished 10
th (19:31.5) and
Alana Dyce-Giraud took 12
th (19:36.5).
Anna Babinyecz rounded out the PPU runners with a 15
th place finish (19:43.9).
The Point Park women opened the season ranked seven in the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Preseason Top 10 Poll.
The Point Park women competed at the RMU Invitational a season ago, placing sixth in the final team standings. O'Connor was the top PPU finisher a the event, placing 13
th with a time of 18:29.22.
The Point Park men also opened the season at the West Liberty Invitational last week, placing fourth out of eight competing programs. Point Park had five runners place in the top 24, led by
Elijah Bechdel's 12
th place finish with a time of 19:32.3 in the 6k race.
Luke McKenna was the second PPU runner to cross the finish line in 17
th place, turning in a time of 19:40.3.
A pair of freshmen crossed the finish line next for Point Park, including
Jacob Preston in 21
st place (19:55.7) and
Pedro Lemos in 23
rd (20:01.6). Sophomore
Chase Bowen finished 24
th with a time of 20:05.2.
At last year's RMU Invitational, the Pioneers placed sixth out of 10 competing programs at the event. McKenna has the top individual finish for PPU, finishing in 14
th place with a time of 25:47.28.
