HPU Men’s Cross Country Second In VMI Invitational

BUENA VISTA, Va. — The High Point University men’s cross country team was runner-up at the VMI Invitational on Saturday at the Vista Links Golf Course in Buena Vista, Va. Senior Patrick Crawford and redshirt-sophomore Jeff LaCoste placed sixth and seventh, respectively, to lead the Panthers.

“We got a good look at what we’re up against today,” said HPU head coach Mike Esposito. “Liberty is going to be tough and this is the most challenging course we will see this year. We’ve known that and we’ve been talking about that for weeks. We wanted to learn the course and we did that. It was good to get out here and see what we’re up against for the Big South Championship.”

Liberty grabbed the 1-4 finishing spots led by race winner Caleb Edmonds, who finished in 26:12.77. That led to a low score of 19 points for the Flames. High Point placed second with 51 points followed by Campbell at 93 points. VMI placed fourth with 115 points and Coastal Carolina took fifth with 121 points. Radford placed sixth followed by UNC Asheville, Longwood and Tusculum. Liberty and High Point combined for 12 of the first 17 finishers.

Crawford led High Point for the third meet in a row with a time of 26:59.88 on the highly-challenging course, good for his sixth-place finish. LaCoste placed seventh in 27:08.12.

Sophomores Benji Szalai and Paddy Grandinali placed 10th and 12th, respectively, for High Point. Szalai finished in 27:35.49 and Grandinali crossed the line in 27:35.49. Freshman Chernet Sisay was the Panthers’ fifth scorer, coming in 16th overall with a time of 27:48.15.

Junior Reece Ayers was HPU’s sixth finisher in 17th overall and senior John Yankello came in 22nd.

Sophomore Kevin Maguire placed 25th and junior Chris Colo took 26th. Freshman Mason Lenox placed 29th and sophomore Cody Seymour placed 39th.

High Point races for the third week in a row next Saturday when the Panthers head to the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational next Saturday at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. The highly-competitive meet also features men’s teams from Virginia, Auburn, California, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, Mississippi, Syracuse and William & Mary.