Women’s cross country finishes first in season opener

The Pitt cross country teams began their season on Saturday, competing in the Duquesne Duals… The Pitt cross country teams began their season on Saturday, competing in the Duquesne Duals Invitational.

The women’s team defeated nine opposing teams, including No. 30-ranked West Virginia University, while the men finished 5-3.

Pitt managed to get its first four runners in the top 10 in the women’s 5-kilometer, a race in which close to 100 athletes competed.

Junior Maureen McCandless finished first for the Panthers, and second overall, with a time of 17 minutes, 46 seconds. She improved her time 46 seconds since the same invitational last year.

McCandless held her spot through the final straightaway, amid the screams of supporters from the Pitt track team and coaches alike.

“Lets go Mo, come on Mo!” head coach Alonzo Webb yelled, noticeably louder than anyone in his immediate surroundings.

Webb kept tabs on his runners throughout the first race by intercepting their course at several points.

“Right around the mile point, we were first, third and fourth,” Webb said. “West Virginia was second and then they had a pack of girls right behind our fifth girl.”

In the second half of the race, WVU runners captured the first, fourth and sixth spots. Pitt junior Lauren Shaffer took third, senior Rachel Rothe was fifth, freshman Suzette Bossart came in eighth and, rounding out the Panther’s scoring five, freshman Nicola Angstadt placed 12th.

“West Virginia runs well as a pack,” Webb said. “That’s what we’ve got to learn to do.”

In the end, Pitt beat WVU by a single point, 27-28. The women’s team also defeated St. Francis, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, Robert Morris, Carnegie Mellon, Wheeling Jesuit, Penn State-Altoona and Clarion.

The men’s team faced only eight opponents; WVU did not enter a team. Successful against St. Bonaventure, Robert Morris, Wheeling Jesuit, PSU-Altoona and Clarion, the men’s team lost to St. Francis, Duquesne and CMU.

Near the halfway point of the men’s 4.2-mile race, Pitt held a substantial number of the top spots.

“We’ve got all of our guys in the front pack!” Webb said during the race. “We’ve got all five in the top 15!”

However, Webb then added, with a seemingly prescient ability, “A lot can happen in the next half.”

Pitt finished the race with only two of its runners in the top 15. Freshman Jesse Mang finished 16th.

“They were in a nice pack at the turnaround, then they started to fall apart,” Webb said. “Probably just not focused, we need a little more focus during the second half of the race when things get tough.”

Pitt’s top runner, Michael Long, finished eighth in the meet with a time of 21:56. He was 30 seconds behind first place and only a second ahead of Pitt’s second runner, freshman Andrew Tomawick.

“On any given day anyone can pretty much do everything,” Long said. “Today just happened to be my day. I was out there, I was in the pack and I felt good so I went with it.”

Despite the setbacks and resultant three losses, the men’s team showed visible improvement from last year.

All five of the men’s scoring runners recorded times faster than Pitt’s second fastest time at the same meet a year ago. In addition, with the exception of senior Clinton Kotuby, Pitt’s top five this year were all freshmen.

“We’ve started a whole new era,” Long said. “I’m told this is the first time that we’ve been called a team. We’ve always had a couple good individuals, but our freshman class coming in, supported by our senior leadership, I think we have one of the best teams Pitt’s ever had.”

Pitt’s cross country teams will next be in action Sept. 27, in Van Cortland Park, N.Y., at the Iona Meet of Champions.