Highlanders Place Fourth, Eighth In Season Opening Meet

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Radford's cross country teams opened their seasons Saturday at Virginia Tech's Festival in the Fields, with the men's team placing fourth and the women placing eighth in the multi-team meet.

The men placed fourth out of eight teams with 116 points. Freshman Dawit Legesse led the way for RU, placing 12th overall with a time of 19:59. Joel Hanlon finished 23rd overall at 20:24.28 and Lee Bradshaw was 32nd overall at 20:38. Lucas Wright placed fourth for the Highlanders, finishing 34th overall with a time of 20:41.10 and Mike Meehan was fifth for RU and 35th overall at 20:48.0. Sean Bossman and Pete McCann rounded out the Radford field, finishing 50th and 78th respectively. Bossman crossed the finish line at 21:09.5 and McCann clocked in at 25:28.43.

The women were eighth of nine teams, tallying 214 points. Allison Romanow crossed the line first for RU, scoring at 16:51.06 to place 32nd overall. Liz Banks was second for the Highlanders and 45th overall with a time of 17:42.34. Monica Schaus finished third and Tiffany Street was fourth for RU. Schaus checked in at 19:00.07 to place 64th overall and Street was 68th overall with a time of 19:40.75. Jasselle Cruz was 71st overall at 19:47.15 and Megan McBride rounded out the Radford finishers, placing 78th overall at 21:54.31.

Both teams take a two-week break before heading north to Lexington, Va. for the VMI Invitational on Sept. 17.