LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Senior Zaya McCune posted a top-20 individual finish to lead the IUP cross country teams Friday at the Lock Haven Invitational, as the Crimson Hawk women finished sixth in the Crimson 6K race while the men placed 13th in the Crimson 8K.
McCune continued her strong start to the season by crossing the line 17th overall in 22:34.1. She led an IUP women's lineup that placed four runners inside the top 50 and finished with 170 team points.
Freshmen Rylan Carney and Anna Jarworski followed McCune with a pair of top-35 performances. Carney finished 30th in 23:01.0, while Jarworski was just seven seconds behind in 34th at 23:08.0.
Junior Camryn Roche gave the Crimson Hawks their fourth runner inside the top 50, finishing 44th with a time of 23:20.2. Senior Lexi Lovrich rounded out IUP's scoring five in 61st at 23:45.5.
Sophomore Addison Matthews followed closely behind Lovrich, crossing 63rd in 23:46.7. Freshman Jenaya Swinger finished 110th in 24:35.3, while sophomore Hailey Hirtz crossed in 27:01.0.
The IUP women posted a total time of 1:55:49 across their scoring five, averaging 23:10 per runner. Just 1:12 separated McCune and Lovrich.
IUP was among the leaders throughout the early portion of the race, sitting second in the team standings at the 1.6-kilometer checkpoint. The Crimson Hawks were third at both 2.9K and 3.5K before eventually finishing sixth.
Men's 8K
Sophomore Colton Henning paced the IUP men, leading a tightly packed Crimson Hawk lineup with a 53rd-place finish in 26:23.1.
Fellow sophomore Dominic Kuntz was just 7.6 seconds behind Henning, crossing 61st in 26:30.7. Junior Nathan Kociela gave IUP three runners under the 27-minute mark, placing 70th with a time of 26:39.0.
Sophomore Steven Janke followed in 96th at 26:59.9, while freshman Micheal Andretta rounded out the scoring five with a 108th-place finish in 27:11.3.
Junior Ian Rauber crossed just one second behind Andretta, finishing 109th in 27:12.3. Freshman George Nestlerode completed IUP's top seven in 132nd with a time of 27:40.1.
IUP's scoring five combined for a total time of 2:13:44 and averaged 26:45. Just 48.2 seconds separated Henning and Andretta as the Crimson Hawks finished 13th with 349 points.
The Crimson Hawks started quickly, sitting sixth in the team standings at both the 1.6K and 2.2K checkpoints. Kociela was IUP's leading runner through 4.8K before Henning and Kuntz moved ahead over the closing stages of the race.
