The Wesleyan Wolves Cross Country team competed this weekend at the Clayton State Invitational in Morrow, GA. The Wolves, lead by Senior Chyla Brown, showed signs of more progress as they inch closer to the Conference Championships in November.
"When we come out to these events, I tell the athletes to shoot for two goals. First, focus on the finish. Take care of yourself, pace yourself to where you can compete the entire race. Second, I tell them shoot for personal best times each time we run an event. If my athletes do both of these things during a meet, I am pleased no matter their final finish. We are looking forward to continuing to improve as well make our way to the USA South Conference Championships in November. We plan to shine there and have personal best times for everyone on the roster," Head Coach Jonathan Long said after the meet.
The Wolves continue to improve on times. Senior Chyla Brown shaved off an entire minute from her prior 5k race time finishing at 24:46 (24th place). Sophomore Hannah Motes finished approximately thirty seconds faster than her last finish with a final time of 29:43 (42nd place). Sophomore Alicia Ramirez saved over a minute on her times with a finishing time of 30:43 (44th place). The biggest improvement of all came from Freshman Sarah Wise shaving off almost five minutes from her last race with a final time of 31:28 (45th place).
"I am very proud of the work these women put in to this sport. When over half the team is making this kind of improvements from race to race, it's awesome to see," Long said of the team's improving run times.
The team finished in eighth (8th) place behind some tough Division I programs. The Wolves will be off this week and will continue their season at the Georgia College and State University Invitational in Milledgeville, Georgia on October 12th.
Race Results:
Team 8th Place
Chyla Brown 24th 24:46.09
Marilyn NeSmith 39th 28:37.63
Hannah Motes 42nd 29:43.29
Alicia Ramirez 44th 30:43.84
Sarah Wise 45th 31:28.13