The University of Mary Washington men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2021 season on Saturday at the Spider Alumni Invitational at the University of Richmond, among a field of mainly Division I opponents. The men finished in sixth place among seven teams, while the women finished seventh of eight.
For the men, in the 5K race, junior Patrick Brown (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) finished in 40th place with a time of 16:03.9, while senior Matthew O'Cadiz (Falls Church, Va. / JEB Stuart) took 44th at 16:14.3. Junior Nick Onorato (Fairfax Station, Va. / South County) finished 52nd at 16:41.0, junior Brandon Baumgartner (Alexandria, Va. / Thomas Edison) took 54th at 16:43.1, and senior Blake Mason (Montpelier, Va. / Patrick Henry) rounded out the top five in 56th place at 16:45.8.
On the women's side in the two-mile run, sophomore Kelly Young (Ruckersville, Va. / William Monroe) finished in 48th place at 12:25.8, with teammate Cameron DeLean (South Riding, Va. / Freedom) taking 49th at 12:28.4. Teresa Guzman (Lorton, Va. / South County) finished 53rd at 12:44.7, with Grace Pippin (Bristow, Va. / Patriot) taking 57th at 12:53.5, and Jessica Oberlies (Greensboro, N.C./Grimsley) finishing 58th at 12:56.0.
Both teams will be back in action on September 18 at Christopher Newport University at 10:00 a.m.