PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sept. 10, 2022) - Georgian Court cross country was back in action this weekend, competing at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Cross Country Championships. Despite missing part of their squad, the men's team finished in second place. The women came through with a sixth place finish.

The race took place in the early afternoon with the women's 5K starting at 12:15 pm and the men's 8K beginning at 1 pm. Conditions were good with lots of sunshine, but the day did get progressively warmer. With seven conference teams competing, the meet acted as an early preview of the CACC Championship meet. The conference meet will also be held on the same course, which is one of the tougher the Lions will run on this season.

The GCU men were led by Kyle Spector. After the first mile, Spector was in the middle of the pack, but continued to pass runners as the race dragged on. Heading into the final mile Spector found himself in first place, the only problem, he thought he was in second. Spector held the lead all the way to the finish when he was passed right at the tape by a sprinting Vaughn Lackman of Wilmington and finished just one-tenth of a second behind, runing 28:45.5. 

Spector was followed by Alec Valle who cracked the top-10 with a 10th place finish in the 98-person field. He crossed the line in 29:29.7. The remaining five Lions again finished in a pack, similar to last week, with all five finishing within 13 places.

Joseph Jamolawicz finished inside the top-20 in 19th place. He ran 30:56.7. Thomas Rosky (31:25.1) and Riley Keffer (31:41.3) rounded out the top-five in 22nd and 24th place. Dylan Navarro (31:51.8) was right behind Keffer in 26th and Charli Dominguez (32:12.4) placed 31st. 

Jefferson was the overall men's team champion finishing nine points ahead of the Lions.

For the Lion women, they were led once again by Amirah Beasley. She ran 23:38.5 over 5K to finish 18th. Freshman Brenna Sullivan took 26th place in 24:30.5.

Ashlee Pataky and Madalin Jones each cracked 26 minutes. Pataky ran 25:00.1 to place 30th and Jones ran 25:24.0 for a 33rd place finish. 

Selma Cazimoska and Niya Barden finished back-to-back in 43rd and 44th in the 72-person race. Cazimoska ran 26:24.8 and Barden finished in 26:24.9. 

Felician was the team champion and Ashley Linares of Felician the individual winner. She ran 20:24.1.

Both squads will compete once again next weekend at the Goldey-Beacom Fall Classic Friday, Sept. 16 in Wilmington, Delaware.