NEWARK, NJ (Oct. 10, 2026) - Georgian Court Cross Country was back in action this weekend at the 22nd annual NJIT Invitational. It'd been two weeks since the Lions last raced in what was the biggest field GCU had seen all season.

The men's race started the day with an 8K at Branch Brook Park. The notoriously flat and fast course proved to be just that. Every Lion that finished for both the men and the women ran season-best times. Additionally, 11 of the 12 finishers ran collegiate-bests.

In a 23-team field, the GCU men finished in 10th place overall. For the fourth time this season, Ryan Pettrow led the way. He placed 30th in 26:33.12. Just a few spots and one second behind Pettrow was Richard Riopel. Riopel ran 26:34.74 and finished in 33rd place.

Zachary Spoonire was a Lion on his own. He finished in 61st place, running 27:30. 13. He was 28 spots behind his nearest teammate in front of him and 32 spots ahead of his nearest teammate behind him. That teammate behind Spoonire was Luke McCormick. He broke 30 minutes running 29:10.38 and finished 93rd overall.

The final two Lions were Colin Broadbelt and Stephen Lane. Broadbelt ran 29:38.61 for 108th place. Lane just missed breaking 30 minutes. He finished in 117th after completing the course in 30:03.06.

Army was the overall team champion scoring 49 points. Unattached athlete William Mitchell paced the field of 187 to win in 24:42.56. Army also won the women's 5K race scoring 34 points. It was Albany's Skyler Hines who took the individual championship for the women running 17:19.16.

Out of 24 teams, Georgian Court finished 14th. They were led by Dori O'Halloran who finished in 41st place running 19:48.55. Also breaking 20 minutes and placing four spots behind O'Halloran was Sophia Mauro. She placed 45th in 19:59.85.

Running her first collegiate 5K was Nena Menard. She ran 22:03.31 and finished in 95th place. Finishing five spots apart in the field of 181 were Nora Sprunger and Azucena Martinez Panesso. Sprunger finished in 110th place in 22:38.71 while Martinez-Panesso was 115th in 22:59.63. 

The biggest PR of the day went to Julisa Ponce Sanchez. She had a five-minute personal-best running 29:10.69 and placed 165th.

This was the start of three straight weekends of races for the Lions. They're back in action next Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Rowan Border Battle at DREAM Park in Logan Township, NJ.