The Owls had a fantastic season opening at the Bruins XC Night Classic on Friday hosted by Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC.

For the men, veteran runner Aidan Saunders (Sr.) finished first for the team with a time of 22:31 to cover the 6k distance. This earned him a very respectable 20th place finish overall. Henry Berta (So.) was second for the team in 22:51 (23rd). The team was supported by a duo of freshmen, Zack Schaumburg and Evan Aronson, finishing 3rd and 4th for the team (24:45 and 25:10, respectively). Newcomer to cross country, but a senior, Will Cox finished in 26:39, while first year cross country member, junior Sam Koblylarz finished in 28:03.

On the women's side, freshmen Marlise Pedisich and Ella Tatro led the charge and ran together for most of the 4k distance. In the end Ella was the first finisher for the squad (20:25) and Pedisich was second (20:30). Rah Juhlin (Fr.) came in at 21:07 while chased by veteran runners Tabitha McBrayer (Jr.) and Val Dorries (Sr.) finishing with times of 21:13 and 21:56, respectively. Rounding out the women's team were Kayla Schwartz (Sr.) and Aila Givins (Fr.) with back-to-back finishes 22:44 and 22:46.

Overall, both teams finished in 5th place and are looking forward to their next race at Converse University. There, the Owls will have the opportunity to run the championship distances (8k for men, 6k for women). Go Owls!