After having a weekend off, the Waynesburg University women’s cross country team was back in action.

This past Saturday, the Yellow Jackets competed in the DeSales Invitational in Center Valley. The team placed fifth out of 27 teams.

Head coach Chris Hardie was happy with the team’s performance as whole.

“The team ran really good at DeSales,” said Hardie. “We got to see how we stacked up against the four regional teams that were there and I was happy with the outcome we got.”

Out of the 27 teams that were at the meet, five teams, including Waynesburg, are in the top ten of the region.

“We beat one of the teams and then the other three teams barely beat us,” said Hardie. “Now we know we can get a top-five spot for when the regional meet comes around.”

Waynesburg is currently ranked 10th regionally, but Hardie believes that his team can improve to a top five regional team.

With the regional meet being held in Center Valley, Hardie has mixed emotions about the team’s future.

“The team got to preview the course a couple of times, so they will be ready,” said Hardie. “But the team still needs to get a little faster if we want to be where we want.”

With a multitude of high-caliber runners at the meet, consisting of 268 competitors, the Yellow Jackets were able to place six girls in the top 100.

The weekend off gave the Yellow Jackets some time to recover, which played a key role in the impressive performance this weekend.

“I think a week off at this time of the year always helps,” said Hardie. “They have been working really hard, so the week off recharged them which helped them a lot for this meet.”

The Yellow Jackets were led by two freshman runners, Aubrey Wingeart and Gloria Reed. Wingeart was the 15th runner to cross the finish line, with Reed following right behind her in 16th place.

Wingeart has consistently been a top runner for the Yellow Jackets, but as the season progresses more runners are becoming standouts. Reed was one of these athletes to catch Hardie’s attention this week in the process.

“Reed ran very well, she was just a few seconds behind Aubrey,” said Hardie. “We knew she was capable of running this good, we just haven’t seen it before so that was great to see.”

Reed contributes her high-level performance to having the past weekend off.

“I definitely think it helped,” said Reed. “Sometimes our bodies need a rest so it can recuperate from the workouts we have had before.”

Even though Reed had a solid performance, she still believes there can be more improvement.

“I definitely think I could have been more conservative on the first mile,” said Reed. “At the end, I was exhausted, so there is always room for more improvement.”

Other key performers at the meet were sophomores Nichole Shelton, Becca Volz and Gianna Pugliano, as well as freshman Monica Kolencik.

Following such an impressive meet, both Wingeart and Reed received a Presidents’ Athletic Conference award in the women’s cross country category. Wingeart received the Athlete of the Week award and Reed received Rookie of the Week.

The women’s cross country team will compete next on Oct. 13 at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble in Oberlin, Ohio.