Douglasville, GA – The Emory Oxford cross country teams competed in the Alexander Asics Invitational. The event was filled with teams from the southeast, including NCAA Division I, II, III programs. The men's team finished in 22nd, while the women's team finished in 14th.
In the men's 8k race, the winner was NCAA Division II Augusta University, followed by NCAA Division I Georgia Tech. The Eagles were led by freshman Aaron Li who ran a 29:55:29. Fellow first-year runners Darren Ni ran a 30:42.81, Eli Heanue ran a 30:46.70 and Alex Lucas had a time of 30:59.76. Sophomore Colin Wells finished with a time of 31:30.63.
NCAA Division I Samford University took first place on the women's side, followed by Florida State University and Georgia Tech. The Eagles finished ahead of four-year schools such as Oglethorpe University, Berry University and Georgia Southwestern University. In the 5k race, the Eagles were led by sophomore Julia Danko, who ran a time of 19:23.94. After Danko, freshman Alex Bryant finished with a time of 20:34.36. Freshman Emily Wilhelm ran a time of 20:38.17. First-year Sophia Lee ran a 20:41.13, while classmate Joyce Zhang finished with a time of 21:35.16.
"I am extremely proud of how our runners competed today, especially against a tough field on both sides," mentioned Coach Ella O'Kelley. "We were competing against tough four-year schools and we did well for us. I am excited to finally have enough girls running to score as a team and our new additions did very well for their first race."
The Eagles will be competing in the Bobcat Invitational on October 9th in Milledgeville, GA.