Peyton Voorheis
Staff Writer
The Baron cross country team went on Friday, Aug. 30, to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to begin their season.
Seven teams competed at Westminster University for the Fisher Invite 5K, which was briefly delayed for weather, but began with plenty of daylight left for the racers to finish. The day resulted in several Barons on the men’s and women’s team finishing near the top.
Junior Andrew Madigan and senior Claire Walters both placed first for their divisions. This was Madigan’s first win as a college athlete with a time of 16:10.83.
Graduate student Miguel Daez placed third after Madigan. Freshman Luke Hurley, graduate student Ryan Ozymy and senior Conal Delaney placed ninth, tenth and eleventh, filling out the top five Baron runners, all with times under seventeen minutes.
Walters finished in just under twenty minutes and led a streak of Lady Barons – sophomore Lauren Dosch, senior Jessica Campbell, freshmen Emily Maag and Francesca Rivers – in filling out the top five finishing spots overall.
The women’s team took home a first-place finish, thanks to their many top ten finishers. The men’s team placed second, with a score of thirty-four. This was only nine points behind the first placed team of Geneva College.
Not only did Madigan achieve his first collegiate win, but many other Barons achieved milestones at the invitational.
Walters’ first place came after having not ran at the collegiate level since 2022. The fourth and fifth placed women, Maag and Rivers, are both in their freshman year, having run their first race at this level.
Both men’s and women’s cross country will participate in the PAC Preview on Saturday, Sept. 7. The race will be held at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The Barons will be competing in the first 8K of the season.