Ben Martindale, Sports Editor
VCU men’s and women’s cross country teams made their season debut Sept. 5 at the Spider Alumni Open. The men kicked things off with a 6k race and the women followed by running 4k.
The morning weather was hot and muggy and as soon as the match started, the heat and humidity became a factor.
“When it’s hot obviously you’re gonna be working a whole lot harder,” said second-year Jonathan Hess. “The added humidity just makes the air thicker, a little bit harder to breathe, and that can do a lot.”
Hess admitted that today was not his best performance, as much of the team’s focus is on staying healthy for indoor track, but he still managed to be one of three men’s team runners to finish in the top 50. Hess’s older brother, third-year Thomas Hess finished first among Rams competitors and 20th overall, posting a 6k time of 19:15.5.
“The team performed pretty well,” said coach Austin Savage. “Really our only goal was to get out here and be competitive and for some people that meant being more aggressive and some that meant being more conservative and moving up throughout the race. I think generally everybody abided by the standard they set for themselves and what they wanted to accomplish. Successful day really.”
Third-year Madelyn Anderson finished second among VCU women’s runners and 51st overall posting a 4k time of 15:50.9.
“As a team we performed really well given the circumstances,” said Anderson. “It’s hot, sunny but we all worked together, we all pushed through. Just got through it, really showed how strong we are.”
First-year Emma Trupp posted a 4k time of 16:54 and was pleased with her performance but has her sights set on bigger goals.
“This is just a 4k so a lot of us have kind of been saying just get it done, it’s not the real thing yet,” said Trupp. “We’re looking to train hard for those 6k races. For me personally, this is the first cross country race I’ve ran since eighth grade.”
VCU cross country will next compete at the CNU Invitational on Sept. 18.