The Ohio women's and men's cross country teams both opened their seasons with wins Saturday as they finished atop the standings at the Green and White Invitational.
The men blew away their competition, tallying 21 points. The second-place team, Shawnee State, recorded 42. Robert Morris (83), Rio Grande (95) and Ohio Valley (145) rounded out the rest of the field.
On the men's side we had a lot of untested talent
and they did a great job; they came through and won the meet for us and it's always good to win at home Ohio coach Clay Calkins said. I'm very excited to do that well in the first meet. I think that shows good things to come.
The women did not have such an easy day, as they squeaked out a tie-breaker win over Shawnee State. Tied at 28, the teams looked to their sixth-place finisher to break the tie. Ohio's Anna Wines' time of 21:24 locked up the victory.
The Robert Morris women's team finished third with 75 points followed by Ohio Valley in fourth with 110 points.
The women's team as a whole shows that we have more depth than we have had in the past
Calkins said.
Saturday marked the first time under Calkins that the Ohio women have won the Green and White Invitational.
Individually for the men, Ohio freshman Ridge Robinson opened his collegiate career with a first-place finish in a time of 16:10 on the 5K course.
On the second lap I thought I was done because I was getting really tired
but then I just thought about races I had done bad in the past
and that kind of helped me
Robinson said. My last mile got a lot faster.
On the women's side, Shawnee State's Star Emmert finished first overall with a time of 19:37. Behind her with a time of 19:50 was Ohio's Kendra Churchill.
Churchill was just a few steps ahead of a competing runner with a half-mile to go but separated down the stretch and ended up coming in second place easily.
I tempoed it
kept the same pace and didn't look back
Churchill said.
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