Wake Forest University
Covered Bridge Open
Irving, Loeser Dominate at Covered Bridge Open
9/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 2, 2011
Women's Complete Results
| Men's Complete Results
BOONE, N.C. - Sophomore Nicole Irving captured the individual title at the Covered Bridge Open cross country meet for the second consecutive season, and senior Paul Loeser finished second overall to lead Wake Forest in the men's race Friday evening.
The Demon Deacon women finished second overall with 74 points, while the men finished seventh in the team results with a total of 151 points.
North Florida claimed the team crown on the women's side, and Southern Indiana captured first place for the men.
Irving picked up right where she left off after a dominating freshman campaign in 2010. Her 5k time of 18:23.8 placed her 17 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. The Ballston, N.Y. native also finished first at last year's Covered Bridge Open.
The Deacs placed two additional runners in the top ten, as junior Allison Homer finished fifth in 18:48.1 and Melanie Powers claimed seventh place with a solid mark of 18:52.4.
Freshman Aubrey Waggoner had a strong debut for the Demon Deacons, as she raced to a 16th-place finish in a time of 19:20.2. Two other freshmen were the next finishers for the Deacs, with Kaitlyn Oliver crossing the line in 20:07.3 (47th place) and Natalie Sukramani finishing in 21:33.9 (94th place).
Rounding out the scoring totals for the Deacs were sophomores Caitlin Hartnett with a time of 22:07.8 and Elizabeth Rucker in 23:36.6. Both Hartnett and Rucker were competing in their first collegiate cross country meets, as Rucker was sidelined with an injury last season and Hartnett competed during the track season.
On the men's side, Loeser turned in perhaps the best performance of his career, finishing second in an impressive 8k time of 25:40.2. Junior Tom Finneran was the next finisher for the Deacs, as he crossed the line in 26:40.8 to claim 30th place.
The Deacs placed three more runners in the top 50, with Jake Graham in 39th (26:58.5), Anthony Marois in 43rd (27:07.6), and Alexander Rose in 46th (27:13.6).
Also competing in the Covered Bridge Open for the Deacs were four freshmen: Connor Crowley, Brian O'Toole, Jake Dearmon, and Daniel Segall. Additionally, senior Tom Morrison raced in the meet, finishing in a time of 28:15.4.
The Deacs will take next weekend off before returning to action Sept. 16th when they travel to Clemson, S.C. for the Clemson Invitational.
Players Mentioned
