KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 13, 2022) – The ETSU men’s and women’s cross country teams make their final tune-up before the Southern Conference Championship as the Buccaneers head to North Carolina for the VertCross Invitational, which will be held Friday at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex.   

MEET INFO

Date: Friday, Oct. 14

Meet: VertCross Invitational  

Location: Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex (Kernersville, N.C.)

Time: Women’s 6K – 4:30 p.m. | Men’s 8K – 5:30 p.m.

Results: Blue Ridge Timing 

BUCCANEER RUNNERS

• ETSU is sending 13 women’s runners and 12 men’s runners to run in the VertCross Invitational.
• Both teams ran two weeks ago in Louisville where Evan Guzman (Franklin, Tenn.) paced the men and Rebekah Howard (Ashland, Ky.) led the women.
• Guzman set a personal best 8K time in the Bluegrass State where he finished 17th overall with a time of 23:59.3 … Guzman went on to win his second SoCon Runner of the Week honor after the performance in Louisville.
• Howard led the Blue and Gold for the second time this season as she finished 45th in the visit back to her home state … Howard crossed the line in 17:33.9, shattering her previous 5K mark by nearly two minutes.

Below is a full listing of ETSU student-athletes running on Friday.

Women
Ansley Archuleta, Sophie Beach, Alex Benson, Julia Foote, Rebekah Howard, Camryn Johnson, Julia Karsten, Chanelle Kruger, Izelle Kruger, Jessica Lord, Genevieve Schwarz, Grace SingletonKarli Townsell

Men
Mason Brandon, Xian Campbell, Gavin Cooper, Evan Guzman, Nate Hillis, Abdul Jaber, Ben Kenner, Josh Krafsur, Nolan Pedota, Myles Stoots, Jordan Thomas, Jack Watson

THE FIELD

• Friday’s field features 12 teams in both the men’s and women’s races.
• Joining ETSU and host High Point in the field include Campbell, Charleston Southern, Davidson, Guilford, Hartford, Hollins (women only), Longwood (men only), Lynchburg, North Alabama, North Carolina A&T and Pfieffer.
• Two teams are ranked regionally on the men’s side as the Buccaneers are No. 12 and North Alabama is No. 14.
• On the women’s side, High Point is ranked No. 11 regionally.

QUOTES

Below are quotes from head coach George Watts heading into this week’s meet.

“The men's team continues to improve each week in training and have given very good competitive efforts in the meets we've had so far. We are missing a few people as a result of injury, but hope to have some of them return for the conference and regional meets.”

“I do expect the guys to be in contention on Friday to have a high team finish.  The goal is to tighten up the top five spread under a minute.”

“The women are progressing nicely and are taking big chunks of time off of their 5K personal best. This will be their second 6K of the season and I anticipate similar improvements over the first one at Virginia Tech. I like how aggressive they've been in their competitions and should feel more comfortable this time around over the longer distance.”

UP NEXT

ETSU heads to South Carolina for the SoCon Championships, which will be held on Sunday, Oct. 30 in Charleston.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s and women’s cross country, visit ETSUBucs.com.