Marshall’s cross-country team placed seventh at the Virginia Invitational. This meet at Panorama Farms in Earlysville was hosted by the University of Virginia.  

The women’s race was 5 k.m., while the men ran 8 k.m. 

The women’s team finished with 159 points and were led by Abby Herring placing team high 15th with a time of 18 minutes and 13 seconds. Sydney Smith was the Herd’s second-highest placement at 38th with a time of 19:10. Rounding out the scoring was Kyleigh Edwards placing 44th, with a time of 19:19.8. Meagan Ward finished 48th at 19:21.9 and Julia Muller finished 61st at 20:17.1. 

The men’s team finished with 211 points. Evan White was Marshall’s highest finisher for the men in 52nd place at 27 minutes and 19.1 seconds. The Herd’s other scorers were Paul Sepulveda who placed 58th, at 27:34.9, Jacob Birurakis placing 60th at 27:44.9, Brett Armbruster who placed 62nd at 27:57.2 and Brendan Wood, who placed 64th, with a time of 28:07.3.  

Caleb Bowen, Marshall’s assistant coach for cross-country, said there are mixed emotions about the contest, but the group performed better than at their last invitational at Virginia Tech. “The stats don’t show it because it was a really tough meet against traditional cross-country powerhouses,” Bowen said. “I wish we faced against less teams because I believe we would have done well, but where we were going up against such a stacked field, it made it seem like we didn’t do well. “ 

The weather reached the 80s at the event, but Bowen said, “I’d rather the worse weather be early in the season. That way when we are gearing up for championship season, we will be running our fastest.”   

Coach Bowen said the team needs to improve upon health and ramping up training as the team looks ahead to the next meet. 

The Thundering Herd will be back to running on Saturday, Oct. 2 at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Kentucky.