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BOONE, N.C. – The Virginia Tech women’s cross country team placed seventh out of 21 teams while three runners also competed for the men’s squad at the Appalachian State Blue Ridge Open today at State Farm Fields.

The Tech women scored 230 points as Furman won the team race. George Mason won the men’s team title, bettering 23 teams with 40 points.

Leading the way for the Hokie women was sophomore Stephanie Cario, who covered the five kilometer course in 18:58.6, good for 25th place. Freshman Ginny Jones was close behind in 30th, finishing in 19:02.3. Freshman Camille Bouvet (65th, 19:36.8) was third on the team, while sophomore Erika Weidman (68th) and senior Lauren Pinkston (69th) rounded out the team scoring as they both finished with the same time of 19:38.2.

Sophomore Mary Catherine Sowder (107th, 20:20.2), freshman Katarina Smiljanec (108th, 20:21.1) and freshman Amanda Smith (114th, 20:29.1) also competed for Tech.

For the men, freshman Thomas Curtin turned in a top-10 overall finish, crossing the line eighth in 25:18.5 for the eight kilometer race. Junior Tihut Degfae followed in 12th in a time of 25:28.1, while senior Chris Walizer finished 39th in 25:59.5. Both Degfae and Walizer bettered their times from last year’s Blue Ridge Open.

Tech was without their top-eight runners on both men’s and women’s sides for today’s meet as those student-athletes are competing at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Sunday. Indiana State and the LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course are the host of this year’s NCAA Division I National Championship Meet held on Nov. 21.

Cameron Bean of Zap Fitness won the men’s race in 24:25.1 and Nicole Irving of Wake Forest won the women’s race in 17:43.4. The fields consisted of 201 men and 177 women.

For the Pre-National Invitational on Sunday, races begin with the men’s 8k at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s 6k at 11:40 a.m. Following Pre-Nationals, Tech is back in action in two weeks at the ACC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Musser Farms in Clemson, S.C.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).