Waynesburg Athletics The Waynesburg University men’s and women’s cross-country team traveled to Bethany this past Saturday for a meet. 20 teams were competing in both the men’s and women’s meets. Both teams were about in the middle of the pack as the men’s team finished 12th and the women’s team finished 13th overall.
The men’s and women’s teams are filled with juniors and seniors who are good leaders. Head Coach Chris Hardie says this can help the team win.
“There are many ingredients to a championship team, one of them is leadership,” said Hardie. “This year I think the big ingredient for us is that we do have an experienced locker room of men and women so that leadership is there which has created a good environment.”
The women’s team sophomores Reagan Pettis and Grace Tanksley finished first and second for Waynesburg placing 24th and 34th overall. Senior Gabi Reifsnyder would end up finishing third for Waynesburg and placing 37th overall. This was also the same order in which they all finished the first meet in Washington, PA, where as a team they placed first.
Despite only being a sophomore, Pettis is already placing in the top 25. She gave some insight into what she hopes to accomplish this season.
“I hope that we do better than last year, and my goal is to still make it to nationals,” said Pettis
The men’s team had senior Andrew Kasper placed 27th overall, with the other top 100 finisher for Waynesburg was graduate student Quintin Weaver who placed 34th overall. This experience looked to help both Kasper and Weaver finish in the top 40.
Senior Andrew Kasper talked about how this team compares to other teams he has been on in the past.
“Honestly I’m really excited for this team, of my four years here this is probably the team I’m most excited for,” said Kasper. “We have a lot of people who are serious about it and who will take those steps to make a name for ourselves.”
We won’t get to see either team race until Saturday, Sept 23, when they travel to Lock Haven for a 10 a.m. start time.