Kristin Hart is the top collegiate finisher on the women\'s side
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Kristin Hart (Herndon, Va.) was the top collegiate finisher on the women\'s side in her first cross country race at Virginia Tech, helping the Hokies win their season-opening meet Saturday morning. The Virginia Tech men finished second, narrowly missing out on a first-place finish.\"I\'m not surprised that Kristin won,\" director of cross country and track and field Dave Cianelli said. \"We need her racing at this high level during the season to have success as a team. It was an overall outstanding effort in the first race of the year for Virginia Tech.\"
On the women\'s side, Elizabeth Abbey, running unattached, finished first with a time of 14:42.74. Four of the next five finishers were Hokies, helping ensure first-place honors.
Hart finished with a time of 15:21.82, just over a second faster than the third-place runner, Jessica Fanning (Crozet, Va.), who garnered All-ACC and all-region accolades during her stellar freshman campaign. Fanning recorded a time of 15:23.00. Sophomore Natalie Sherbak (Virginia Beach, Va.) garnered a fourth-place finish with a time of 15:31.65.
Carol Jefferson of Liberty was fifth, crossing the line just over three seconds before Tech freshman Erin Reddan (Bricktown, N.J.) would cross. Reddan had a time of 15:41.12. Fellow freshman Nicole Pederson (Herndon, Va.) took home 11th overall, but was 10th in the points standing due to the unattached runner, Abbey. Pederson tallied a time of 15:57.11.
For the Hokies, sophomore Heather Fisher (Herndon, Va.) and senior Katie Danyko (Sterling Heights, Mich.) also finished in the top 25 overall. Fisher was 20th while Danyko placed 25th.
On the men\'s side, four Liberty runners finished in the top seven, helping the Flames narrowly defeat the host Hokies by four points.
Liberty\'s Joshua and Jordan McDougal finished one-two, respectively, before a trio of Hokies crossed the line. Senior David Atkiss (Hatfield, Pa.) was third with a time of 19:24.89 while freshman Paul Ahern (Londonberry, N.H.) took home fourth in 19:25.78. Sophomore Andrew Montgomery (Falls Church, va.) crossed the finish line with a time of 19:26.75, earning him a fifth-place finish.
James Scheiner (Centreville, Va.) and Rider Clauss (Madison, Wis.), both sophomores, finished 10-11, respectively, in times of 19:56.13 and 19:53.46.
However, with the Flames\' Evan Falat finishing 13th, Liberty\'s top five finished in better standings than the Hokies. The Flames amassed just 29 total points to 33 for Tech, ensuring Liberty\'s win.
\"Overall, it was a good indication of where we are in terms of competition,\" Cianelli said. \"This meet shows us what we need to do to prepare over the next two months to get ready for the ACC Championships.
\"We had people out on both the men\'s and women\'s side today. We need to get everyone healthy in order to compete at our top level.\"
The Hokies return to action on Friday, Sept. 16, at 6 p.m., when they host the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.