Canes Cross Country Excel at UCF Invite
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Miami cross country team had a phenomenal outing the UCF Knight Invite on Saturday morning.
Sophomore Dylan Sykes finished first in the men’s 8K with a time of 27:44. Senior Matthew Wiefels was right behind Sykes with a second place finish with his time of 28:27. The duo’s performances helped lead the Hurricanes men’s team to a first place finish. Freshman James Hasell closed out the top five finishers with a time of 29:26.
“Dylan established the tone in the first mile and kept to the game plan,” distance coach Damon Griffiths said. “Matthew looked good through, letting some space open up after mile three on Dylan.”
For the women’s team, freshman Ryley Howard showed no sign of slowing down after her first race with the Canes and finished eighth with a time of 19:15 in Orlando.
“Ryley raced well today and she is showing a lot of consistency in her approach to racing,” Griffiths said.
Howard’s eighth place finish helped lead the women’s team to a fourth place team finish with Simone Vreeland finishing 12thwith a time of 19:23 and senior Anne den Otter finishing 14thwith a time of 14:49.
“Today’s race was the best I’ve seen Symone in a Hurricane uniform,” Griffiths said.
The Canes who had five men and eight women compete, will race again at the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 22 in Gainesville, Fla.
“With Gainesville on the horizon, we have to be more consistent as a unit to do better as team,” Griffiths said.
For more information on the 2018 cross country schedule, click here.
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