Looking to defend their home course and repeat as meet champions, the Charlotte men’s and women’s cross country teams produced first place team finishes at the first ever Bojangles’ Invitational Saturday morning.
The day led off with the men’s 8K race, which featured nearly 90 runners from nine schools. Charlotte was unafraid of the fast, early pace set by a pair of East Tennessee State runners, as junior Adu Dentamo and teammates remained near the front of the race.
Despite some soggy spots throughout the course due to the recent rainfall earlier in the week, the competitors charged through the course in an impressive fashion.
The race finished inside the Belk Track and Field complex and the first runner to cross the finish line was ETSU’s Kenneth Rotich in a time of 25:22. Trailing Rotich in second place was Dentamo with a time of 25:56.
Charlotte junior Jordan Rickard finished 4th for the Niners, followed by sophomore Dakota Lowery in 10th, and junior Chase Eckard in 12th. Rounding out the scoring for the Niners was senior Matt Dobler who finished 17th with a time of 27:18.
Dobler’s finish sealed the victory for the Niners as Charlotte ended the day with 45 points, edging out ETSU who finished second with 52 points. A-10 rivals St. Joseph’s and Xavier rounded out the top four places with 57 and 65 points respectively.
“We went out too hard, but stayed the course and were able to turn it into a team win, but we can’t do that at the A-10 Championships if we expect to win. We just need to be patient and run our race,” said Charlotte head distance coach Brad Herbster on the men’s race.
Both St. Joe’s and Xavier were getting a head start on the rest of the A-10, as the teams were able to get a glimpse of the 2008 A-10 Championship course as Charlotte will be hosting the meet for the first time in the school’s history.
The Charlotte women continued the domination during the 5K race as sophomores Amanda Goetschius and Keara Thomas commanded the race from start to finish, despite running without top runner Aja Jackson.
Goetschius and Thomas worked together for most of the 3.1 mile run, distancing themselves from the field of competitors in the process.
Toward the end of the race, Goetschius opened a small gap on Thomas and cruised to the individual victory with a time of 18:56. Thomas finished second in 19:09.
The Niners then occupied three of the next four finishing spots led by a pair of freshmen in Kristen Mitchell (4th), Janet Barry (5th) and senior Stephanie Snyder (6th).
Charlotte also saw a great finish as a pack of three sophomores in Laura McCary (10th), Kelsey Conroy (11th) and Christina Hobbs (12th) continued the Charlotte dominance.
The Niners finished with a near perfect score of 18 points, well ahead of second place finisher St. Joe’s who ended with 43 points. Xavier picked up third place honors with 87 team points.
“I saw teamwork from our women’s squad, which is something I’ve been wanting to see for a long time … as for Amanda, I thought she did a great job, turned in a sold effort and really set a solid pace,” said Herbster.
Charlotte will look to continue their winning ways next weekend as they make the short trip south to Rock Hill, S.C. to take part in the Winthrop Invitational.
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