CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams will race in their final regular-season meet when they play host to the XC23 Invitational on Friday (Oct. 15) at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. The Cavalier men will race in an 8k at 10 a.m. and the women’s 5k race follows at 10:50 a.m. The races were originally scheduled for Friday afternoon but the forecast of potential high temperatures led to a change in the start times.

Fans can follow the action through live results with a link located on VirginiaSports.com. Updates throughout the race will also be available on the teams’ official Twitter account (@UVATFCC).

The men’s race will feature 11 teams and the women’s competition will include a field of nine. Teams participating include Eastern Kentucky, George Washington, Loyola (Md.), Miami (Fla.), Norfolk State, Penn (Men only), VCU, Villanova (Men only), William & Mary and Yale. The Villanova men enter the meet ranked No. 23 nationally.

Last Time Out 
On Oct. 1, the Cavalier took advantage of the opportunity to race at the site of the 2021 ACC Championships when the Virginia men’s and women’s teams competed at the Joe Piane / Notre Dame Invitational. The Cavalier men placed 21st while the UVA women were 22nd.

Junior Rohann Asfaw was the Cavaliers’ top finisher in the Men’s Blue 5-Mile competition, placing 16th with a time of 23:55.8 while freshman Colin Peattie was the team’s second-best finisher in 82nd place at 24:50.7.

Junior Helena Lindsay led the Virginia women in the Women’s Blue 5k race. She was 67th at 17:14.2 while first-year Margot Appleton was 80th at 17:19.0.

Freshman Jacob Hunter had the best overall finish for UVA during the day’s six races. He was the runner-up in the Men’s Open 5-Mile at 24:58.0 while Kevin Carlson was 17th at 25:36.3.

Last Time at Panorama Farms
UVA’s first home meet this season was on Sept. 17 at the Virginia Invitational. Freshman Mia Barnett and Asfaw each won their respective races to pace the Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams. The Cavalier women won their 5k race while the UVA men placed second to Navy in the 8k competition.

Barnett won in her collegiate debut with a time of 17:13.7 as Virginia took five of the top seven places to finish with 17 points. Lindsay was second at 17:25.2 while freshman Sophie Atkinson was fourth (17:38.2). Senior Gabby Karas and Appleton rounded out UVA’s scoring with sixth- (17:52.8) and seventh-place (17:54.4) finishes respectively.

Asfaw’s win was the fifth of his career and marked the fourth time he has finished first at Panorama Farms. He managed to overtake Navy senior Gregory Mathias in the final 200 meters and sprinted past him to cross the finish line in a course record time of 24:14.7. Mathias was second at 24:19.2