Miami XC Shines at Mountain Dew Invitational
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s and women’s cross country teams had a solid showing at the 2015 Mountain Dew Invitational.
Fourteen Hurricanes competed in Gainesville Saturday morning, with seven men running the 8K race and seven women competing in the 5K race.
“We had several individuals show improvement in today’s race,” Miami distance coach Damon Griffiths said. “Making big strides now will breed confidence for later in the season, but we are still not where I think we can be.“
Miami’s women were led by Gabrielle Hesslau and Anne Den Otter, who both finished in the top 20 of the women’s 5K. Hesslau finished sixth with a personal-best time of 17:54.22 that ranks fourth on UM’s all-time women’s 5K list.
Den Otter, who finished 17th, also posted a personal-best time of 18:31.50 to move up to eighth on Miami’s all-time women’s 5K list. Sophomore Mulloy Manning also posted a personal-best for the second straight week, finishing the 5K race in 19:32.11.
“Gabby, Anne and Mulloy are showing improved fitness in practice everyday and today results were the reward,” Griffiths said.
Junior Jon Keller was the top finisher on the men’s side, placing 18th with a time of 26:08.37. Sophomore Sean Grossman was the second-best Hurricane, crossing the finish line in 26:23.64, while freshman Sean Hagert rounded out Miami’s top three men’s finishers with a time of 27:46.25.
“Jon and Sean ran well today,” Griffiths said. “Times were not as fast overall due to wet conditions from last night’s showers.”
The Canes also had Adam George, Alex Margetts and Kevin Marsh running in the men’s 8K race, while Andrea Harrah, Carla Rodriguez, Megan Brown and Kelly Williamson rounded out Miami’s competitors in the women’s 5K race.
The Hurricane men placed sixth as a team with 166 points, while Miami’s women finished eighth with 231 points. Miami is back in action on October 2nd at the FSU Invitational, where they will run on the same course that will host the ACC Championships on Oct. 30.
“We have a chance to view the conference course next meet, which will assist for later in the season,” Griffiths said.
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