Men's Results | Women's Results | Finish List

ELON, N.C. – Led by top-five finishes from seniors Brigid Brennan and Corey Weiss, the Elon University women's cross country team took medalist honors in the Phoenix's season-opening meet, the Elon Opener, Saturday morning, Sept. 2, at the team's cross country course.
 
The Phoenix women finished the meet with 40 points to capture the team title and finished ahead of second place North Carolina, who had 62 points. Fellow Triad rival High Point was third with 64 points while Colonial Athletic Association foes College of Charleston and Delaware was fourth and fifth with 92 and 109 points, respectively.
 
Brennan clocked a 14:40 in the women's 4K race and was third overall. She was followed by teammate Weiss, who was fourth with her time of 14:41. Sophia Tasselmyer and Chelsea Smith were the next finishers for Elon in the top-10, placing eighth (14:51) and ninth (14:52), respectively.
 
Sophomore Melissa Anastasakis was 16^th with her time of 15:01 while rookie Rachael Wesolowski was 30^th with a time of 15:38. Paige King rounded out the top-seven scores for the Phoenix women with her time of 15:48.
 
"Our women's team was led by five upperclassmen who pushed each other throughout the race, helping us place four runners in the top nine overall and a competitive 31 second spread for our top five scoring finishers," said Elon head cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. "Most of the women finished feeling like they had more effort to put forth, so I am looking forward to see how much tougher they compete with more racing experience. This team has the potential to be very competitive at the CAA and NCAA levels."
 
In the men's 6K race, Elon was third overall with 94 points behind Campbell (22) and UNC (44). Greg Paugh was the top runner for the maroon and gold as he finished 15^th with a time of 19:29. Michael Germinario was next in 16^th with his time of 19:31 while senior Justin Leopold was 18^th at a time of 19:39. Colton Lawson finished 19^th with a time of 19:39 while Richie Kasper was 26^th after clocking a 19:56 in the race.
 
"Our men's and women's teams both ran very well in our season opener," said Jermyn. "Our men had a strong pack of four guys finish within ten seconds of each other and they executed well in the middle kilometers of the race. They all came out of the race with increased confidence and they are excited to race even tougher at our next competition in two weeks. I believe this could be one of the best men's teams in school history."
 
Elon returns to the course to compete at the Adidas XC Challenge on Sept. 15, in Cary, N.C.