BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech runner Sara Freix won her first collegiate race, and both Tech cross country teams won team titles to headline the performances at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational held Friday evening at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course on the Hokies' campus.
Freix, a senior from Centreville, Virginia, ran the 6K version of the course in a time of 20 minutes, 45.8 seconds, besting Clemson's Logan Morris by more than four seconds. Freix led the way for a Tech women's team that placed six runners in the top 11 and finished with 22 points. Duke came in second with 51 points, followed by Clemson, Miami, American, East Tennessee State, Radford and Hollins.
Tech's Sarah Edwards came in third with a time of 20:59.1 and Kyra Lopez followed in fourth with a time of 21:03.0. Freshman Lindsey Butler was sixth, and Ellie Brush came in eighth. Grace Boone finished 11th.
On the men's side, 2018 ACC champion Peter Seufer paced the Hokies with a third place finish, running the 8K version of the course in a time of 24:44.4. He finished nearly 20 seconds behind East Tennessee State's Ben Varghese, who blistered the course with a time of 24:25.9. Florida State's Kasey Knevelbaard was second with a time of 24:30.4.
The Hokies wound up with 30 points, edging Florida State, which came in second with 35. East Tennessee State, Clemson, American, Miami and Radford rounded out the field.
Five Tech runners finished in the top 10, led by Seufer. Jack Joyce came in fourth with a time of 24:49.3, while Fitsum Seyoum was fifth with a time of 24:50.5. Bashir Mosavel-Lo wound up eighth, and Will Griffen was 10th.
MEET NOTES
• Freix's previous best finish in a 6K race was third, which she accomplished twice (Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational, 2018; Hokie Invite, 2017).
• Brush set a personal best at the 6K distance with a time of 21:40.8, beating her previous career best by more than 23 seconds.
• Emily Schiesl, who came in 14th, also recorded a career best at this distance. Her time of 22:10.6 was nearly 10 seconds better than her previous high.
• Butler and Boone, two freshmen, finished in the top 15 for the second consecutive meet.
• Seufer now has finished in the top 10 in seven of the past eight meets dating back to the start of the 2018 season.
• Dave Whitfield, who came in 17th overall, recorded a career best at this distance. His time of 25:42.7 bested his previous career high by two seconds.
• Antonio Lopez Segura and Ben Nibbelink each made their season debuts.
ALUMNI RACE
Daniel Rau won the men's and women's alumni race, running the 4K version of the course in a time of 14:49.3. Andrew Eason came in second with a time of 15:10.9, while Brian Welch was third and Brian Walter was fourth. Shannon Quinn and Amanda Swaak led the women in the event, coming in sixth and seventh overall with the same time of 18:08.6.
UP NEXT
Both squads get a long break before returning to action Oct. 19 at the Pre-Nationals held in Terre Haute, Indiana.Gallery: (9/20/2019) 2019 CROSS COUNTRY ALUMNI MEET
