PITTSBURGH — The West Virginia Wesleyan men’s and women’s cross country squads began their 2023 season at the Panther Open hosted at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh last weekend. This open included schools such Carnegie Mellon, Slippery Rock, Davis & Elkins and the University of Pittsburgh. The squads were led by Leigha Hall, Kent Niland, and Cade Robinson, as both teams came in fifth place overall, putting up solid times for the beginning of the season.
The women’s team was lead by Leigha Hall, who came in 16th, with a time of 18:28.9. She was closely followed by her teammates, Mariam Al’Zoubi, Marimo Akita, and Sofia Pancoast who put up times of 19:47.8, 20:20.9 and 20:25.4. Pitt came in first place. They were closely followed by Davis & Elkins, Slippery Rock, and Carnegie Mellon in second, third and fourth.
The men were led by both, Kent Niland and Cade Robinson, who came in the top 50 of the entire open, putting up times of 15:39.2 and 15:41.0. This very competitive open finished with Pitt coming in first clocking in times of 14:20.0 and 14:20.2 by their leaders Jack Miller and Luke Henseler. Pitt was closely contested by Carnegie Mellon who came in second only by a few points. The leader board was finished out by Davis & Elkins, Slippery Rock, and Wesleyan.
The Wesleyan cross country squads were slated to run Sept. 9, at the Bethany Invitational hosted by Bethany College.
