UVA men defeat Wake Forest, UNC at opening cross country meet of 2020 fall season

Rohann Asfaw led the field in the men’s 8k race to pace UVA to a win at the Virginia Invite over Wake Forest and North Carolina on Friday at Panorama Farms.

Hannah Moran finished third in the women’s 5k as the ‘Hoos finished second behind UNC.

Asfaw, a senior, finished with an eight-second gap over the competition with a time of 24:03.1.

“From a Rohann perspective, I mean, what can you say,” coach Vin Lananna said. “Those are good people that he beat. He did a great job, time is great. So, it’s a great start, and I’m excited that these guys have something to aim for.”

Freshman Wes Porter ran a time of 24:15.4 to finish fourth overall and second for the Cavaliers.

Graduate student Randy Neish crossed the finish line with a time of 24:18.3 for fifth place as sophomore Bryson Crites followed in sixth place with a time of 24:23.8.

Freshman Kellen Hasle was UVA’s fifth runner. He captured a time of 24:38.2 for 10th place.

Moran paced the Cavaliers in the women’s race with a time of 17:20.2 to finish third overall. Senior Gabriella Karas recorded a time of 17:26.2 to place fifth as freshman Anna Workman placed seventh with a time of 17:30.5.

Senior Kiera Bothwell was the fourth UVA runner to cross the finish line, recording a time of 17:32.4, while redshirt senior Oliva Sargent rounded out Virginia’s scoring runners with a 13th-place finish and a time of 17:49.0.

“Hannah did a great job, moved up the whole way, executed strategy perfectly,” Lananna said. “She and the whole team did a really good job. I was really excited that North Carolina and Wake Forest [came down]. To have them come down the day of and compete, it’s pretty tough.”