Wilmington, Del.- For the second consecutive year, Georgian Court University's #
Jessica Handsaker# was the top overall finisher as the sophomore from Australia paced the Lions to a season-opening women's title in Saturday's 15th annual Wilmington University Invitational.
GCU, with 41 total points, topped the field of seven squads, which included fellow Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference members Bloomfield College (2nd place), University of the Sciences (3rd), Wilmington (4th) and Holy Family University (5th).
Handsaker, the 2014 CACC Female Rookie of the Year, crossed the line ahead of 50 additionals harriers, completing the Carousel Park 5K course in 20:52.07 at a one-mile pace of 6.43.
Teammates #
Amanda Farina# (22:05.34), #
Caylin Montoya# (22:14.87) and #
Julia Martone# (22:27.54) took seventh, eighth, and ninth place respectively, giving the Lions four Top-10 finishers.
Rounding out GCU's Top-7 were #
Hannah Vendetta (17th, 23:27.85), #
Jamie Hand# (19th, 23:38.18), and #
Alex Kavoleff# (27th, 24:50.33).
On the men's slate, #
Uriah St. Lewis# took fifth place overall, completing the 8K course in 30:18.64. #
Patrick Parr# was the next Georgian Court representative to cross the finish, taking 17th place with a time of 32:23.14.
#
Tom Natoli# secured 19th place with a performance of 32:27.44, followed by #
Brian Ford# in 31st (35:39.76).
The Lions race locally next Saturday, September 12, when they compete in the 21st annual Monmouth University Invitational, which will be held at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, N.J.
