Hokie ClubBANNER ELK, N.C. – The Virginia Tech cross country squads continued their successful 2009 campaign with a sweep of both the men’s and women’s races against Lees McRae at the “Dual in the Elk” in Banner Elk, N.C., on Saturday.
The Hokie men captured the top eight spots in the early 6,000-meter race. Senior Paul LaPenna, competing in his first meet in 2009, won the race with a time of 20:26. Junior Matt Kroetch, senior Devin Cornwall, sophomore Will Mulherin and sophomore Brian Welch followed LaPenna in second through fifth place, all finishing within a second of each other, with each registering an official time of 20:26.
Sophomore Michael Hammond placed sixth, crossing the line in 20:37, while freshman Jason Cusack and junior Eddie Judge earned seventh and eighth, respectively. The Hokie men tallied 15 points, the best point total a team can earn, to win the meet. Lees McRae recorded 55 points.
On the women’s side, junior Jessica Trapeni, sophomore Lauren Lemieux and sophomore Sammy Dow finished one, two, three to lead Tech to a victory with 18 team points. Trapeni finished the 4,000-meter race in 16:18, while Lemieux and Dow registered times of 16:22 and 16:23, respectively. Freshman Kelly Kavanaugh and sophomore Lauren Pinkston rounded out the Hokie women’s team scoring. Kavanaugh took fifth, while Pinkston placed seventh. Lees McRae totaled 40 points in the race.
Both Hokie squads will take next week off before traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 17 for the Chile Pepper Invitational. Results will be available on hokiesports.com following the conclusion of the meet.