Senior AJ Ernst (Marblehead, Mass.) led the No. 16 UVA men’s cross country team to an 18th-place finish in the team standings at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Friday (Oct. 18).
No. 1 Arizona topped the field with a score of 59. No. 5 Stanford finished second in the team standings, scoring 133 points, while No. 28 Tulsa placed third with 175 points.
“The entire season will be a work in progress,” director of track & field and cross country/associate athletics director of administration Vin Lananna said. “This is a tough group of men so we will focus our attention on the championship season. ACCs are in two weeks and we have our work cut out for us.”
Ernst led the Cavaliers, battling his way to a top-50 finish against a field of 230 runners. The senior ran a career-best 8k time of 24:15.7 to place 47th overall.
Sophomore Peter Morris (Hamilton, Va.) was the second UVA runner to cross the finish line, placing 85th with a time of 24:30.3. Redshirt senior Alex Corbett (Burke, Va.) and junior Rohann Asfaw (Rockville, Md.) finished 101st and 117th, respectively. Corbett ran a time of 24.37.3, while Asfaw recorded a time of 24:43.3. Redshirt senior Ari Klau (West Hartford, Conn.) rounded out Virginia’s scoring five, placing 152nd with a time of 24:57.8.
In addition to today’s Championship Race performance, Virginia had three runners compete in the “B” Race. Redshirt senior Matthew Novak (Glen Allen, Va.) recorded the top UVA time at 24:57.6 as he finished 22nd overall. Junior Harry Monroe (Alexandria, Va.) finished 37th with a time of 25:16.2, while senior Randy Neish (Glastonbury, Conn.) placed 42nd with a time of 25:19.9.
The Virginia women’s team will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 19) as the team competes at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
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