More than an opening-season win was on the line for the Pitt cross country team this past… More than an opening-season win was on the line for the Pitt cross country team this past weekend. It went after some bragging rights, too.

Pitt’s men’s and women’s cross country teams began their seasons Saturday with a trip to Schenley Park for the Duquesne Duals and a matchup with the cross-town rival Dukes of Duquesne.

Fighting through the rain and cold, the men’s team won its second consecutive Duquesne Duals title, while the women finished in second place.

Pitt will resume action on Saturday, Sept. 23, against another one of its rivals when it hits the road to take part in the Spiked Shoe Invitational, which is hosted by Penn State.

Despite having several top performers sit out of the Duquesne Duals, Pitt managed to set a number of personal bests as it defended its men’s title and placed the women in second.

Senior Mike Long finished in fourth place to pace the Panthers with a time of 26:15.00. Pitt runners Curtis Larimer, Tim Konoval and Andy Tomaswick finished fifth through seventh, boosting the Panthers.

Steve Gonzalez placed for the men’s team in tenth at 26:48.00. Eric Fleming followed behind for an 11th place finish of 26:49.00.

Freshman Kyle Kaminski finished in 22nd place with a time of 27:25.00 in his first collegiate competition. Senior Christian Schmidt rounded out the men, placing 43rd at 29:14.00.

Two of the women’s top runners did not compete in the event, but the team still posted a finish comparable to the men’s side.

Sophomore Monica Bhattacharjee finished sixth to lead the team with a time of 19:13.00. Her finish this season was a 29-second improvement over her time from a year ago.

Senior Katelyn Fleishman rebounded from injuries that had limited her in the past couple seasons to place 10th at 19:40.00.

Rachel Botham was close behind, improving her 2005 time by 52 seconds for a 12th-place finish with a time of 19:44.00. Nikki Bielick followed suit in 13th place, 10 seconds later.

Suzy Bossart, Aly Brown and Meliss Vignetti placed 17th, 26th, and 34th, respectively, as senior Shannon Moore placed 54th and Megan Heenan finished her first collegiate race in 56th place.

A few of Pitt’s middle distance runners took part in the event as well with two placing. Senior Krystal Epps placed 42nd at 21:32.00 and junior Selena Sappleton finished in 61st with a time of 23:40.00.