BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech cross country runners Andrew Gaiser and Emily Beatty claimed individual wins at the Hokie Open, a cross country meet held Friday evening at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course on Tech’s campus.
Most of the Hokies’ top runners did not compete in this meet, as they rested in preparation for next week’s NCAA Southeast Regional meet.
Gaiser, a redshirt sophomore from Manassas, Virginia, who had run in just one other event this season, ran unattached and finished the 6K course in a time of 18 minutes, 29.4 seconds. He beat teammate Juan Campos by more than five seconds. Campos ran the course in a time of 18:34.70.
Vincent Ciattei finished fifth overall with a time of 18:49.50, while teammates Ashkan Mohammadi, Baron Kieffer, Diego Zarate and Kevin Cianfarini claimed spots 7-10. Kieffer and Cianfarini ran unattached.
Tech and Radford were the only two men’s teams to compete in the meet. The Hokies won the team competition with 15 points.
Beatty, a freshman from Blacksburg, Virginia, won the 4K race with a time of 14:47.80. Teammates Rachel Pocratsky and Jillian Everly were second and third with times of 14:52.40 and 14:55.70, respectively.
Alyssa Shupe finished fifth overall, with Anne Grumbine in sixth and Shalonda Mitchell in seventh.
Tech and Liberty were the only two women’s teams in the field. The Hokies beat the Flames, finishing with 17 points.
Both Tech men’s and women’s squads will compete next Friday at the NCAA Southeast Regional held at Panorama Farms outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. The first race starts at noon.
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