The Emory University cross country men's and women's teams, competing at the Julius Johnson Invitational, each had big days with both securing first place finishes in their respective races as well as the individual winner in each event.
The women's team registered a first place finish in the 5k race, accumulating a score of 28 to sit atop the field of 11 teams. Each of Emory's scoring runners finished within the top 10 individually and they had four additional runners finish in the top 20. Mercer finished the meet in the silver medalist position with 42 points while Georgia Southern rounded out the podium with 73 points.
Senior Annika Urban continued to bolster her legacy winning her second meet of the season this time by posting a time of 17:44 in the 5k while no other runner at the meet broke the 19 minute threshold. Urban's time of 17:44 is now the third fastest 5k time in program history and the fastest run since 2002. Also continuing the strong start to her collegiate career was freshman Karsten Bobb who finished in fourth place overall after crossing the finish line in 19:18. Graduate transfer Claire Hu had her best performance of the season recording a sixth place finish while posting a time of 19:43. Freshman Luna McCauley and sophomore Jenna Daly, each finishing within scoring position for the first time this season, finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth place, respectively as they finished mere seconds apart with McCauley posting a 19:45 time and Daly finishing just a smidge behind in 19:47.
The men won their second consecutive meet to open the season, this time scoring a mere 21 points as their top seven runners all finished within the top 10. The Eagles finished with 11 total runners within the top 20 in the field of 99 runners. Finishing in second was Mercer who tallied 48 points while Oglethorpe was the other podium finisher racking up 71 points.
Senior Brett Lucas had a standout performance winning the 8k meet with a blistering 25:27 time which also marks the first-ever meet win of his career and the second consecutive meet that an Eagle has finished atop the podium. Senior Spencer Moore, who won the season's opening meet, finished just behind Lucas registering a time of 25:31 and a second place overall finish at the Julius Johnson Invitational. Graduate transfer Ethan Thompson continues to impress as a member of the Eagles, posting a third place finish and crossing the finish line in 25:37. Junior Scott Masterson finished in scoring position for the first time this season, recording a seventh place finish in a time of 26:02. Rounding out scoring for the Eagles was freshman David Evans who raced to eighth place with a time of 26:03. Also finishing in the top ten were seniors Justin Pecore and Andrew Pahnke who finished in ninth and tenth place, respectively.
The Eagles return to action on the 30th of September when they will travel to Bethlehem, PA for the Lehigh University hosted Paul Short Run.