Dukes Battle at Virginia Invitational

Saturday, September 23

Earlysville, Va.

9:30 a.m.

James Madison University

Virginia Invitational

9/23/2023 1:30:00 PM | Cross Country

Results

EARLYSVILLE, Va. – James Madison cross country finished 23rd at the Virginia Invitational on a rainy Saturday morning at Panorama Farms.

The Dukes registered 637 points, 41 points Eastern Kentucky (596). Northern Arizona came away with the team victory with 48 points, followed by Stanford (104), UVA (123), Washington (131) and Georgetown (204). The race featured 12 top-30 teams in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national coaches poll.

How It Happened

At the 1K split, JMU tallied 741 points, led by sophomore Katherine Lawson (3:18.6) with senior Miranda Stanhope closely behind (3:19.4).
The Dukes made up ground at 2,000 meters as Stanhope (21 spots) and sophomore Faithe Ketchum (14 spots) moved up in the race.
Lawson was the first Duke to finish, crossing the finish line in career best 17:49.0 (106th), while Stanhope came in 113th with a time of 17:53.4.
Fifth year McKenzi Watkins rounded out scoring in 19:27.0 for 178th.
The Dukes' average time was 18:30.0, while the spread was 1:38.1.

Quoting Head Coach Rebekah Ricksecker
"Every race is an opportunity to gain data about where we are currently and shows us what we need to do to get to where we want to be. I was proud of how we competed in an elite field and very happy that three of our athletes - Katherine, Faithe and Kristin - ran significant lifetime bests. Today showed us our strengths and also revealed the areas we need to work on the rest of the season as a team."

JMU Runners
106. Katherine Lawson – 17:49.0
113. Miranda Stanhope – 17:53.4
121. Faithe Ketchum – 17:58.2
177. Kristin Giordano – 19:22.4
178. McKenzi Watkins – 19:27.0
182. Mary Milby – 19:59.8
184. Riley Schindel – 20:54.3
185. Sarah Cestare – 21:18.9
186. Sierra Puleo – 21:33.9

Up Next
The Dukes will head to the Hoosier State for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite on Friday, Sept. 29. Races begin at 10:30 a.m. in South Bend, Ind.