BLACKSBURG, VA - The Bears officially opened their 2024 season on Friday, taking on some strong DI and DII competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational. Shorter than a majority of their races, the women ran a 4k while the men ran a 6k.
On the women's side, the Bears were led by senior
Elizabeth Kessler, who took 22nd with a time of 15:23.1, averaging a 6:10/mile. Not far behind her was sophomore
Zoila Sicilia, who came through in 24th with a 15:27.3. Also finishing in the top half of the race was junior
Maria Carmona, who crossed the line in 33rd with a 16:05.4.
Olivia Overholt (17:09.5) and
Elisabeth Ronnstad (17:15.0) closed the scoring out for the Bears.
As a team, the Bears took fifth, finishing a few points above Concord and just behind Charleston (WV).
Jacob Parkinson picked up right where he left off last year, as the 2023 NCAA Qualifier finished third overall and second out of the attached runners, crossing the line in a time of 18:02.0 (4:50/mile). Joining Parkinson in the top-ten was senior
Lewis Budgen, who finished eight with a time of 18:15.0.
Garrison Fisher (20:22.8),
Isaac Riggs (20:49.9), and
Heri Kommorrowski (20:56.3) rounded out the scoring for the Bears.
As a team, LR finished in fourth with 117 points, just one over fellow DII member Concord.
Lenoir-Rhyne will be back in action next Friday when they travel to Charlotte to take part in the Queen City Invite.
