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Appleton Leads Virginia Women to Third-Place Finish at Virginia Invitational

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 10 and No. 11 ranked Virginia men’s and women’s cross country programs kicked off the first of three major meets at Panorama Farms this season as the Virginia Invitational was run Saturday (Sept. 23) through a consistent featuring the nation’s top programs. The meet was headlined by Margot Appleton’s third-place finish while the Cavalier women finished third as a team. Gary Martin led the Cavaliers to a seventh-place finish as he crossed the line 13th overall.

The day began with a men’s 8k race as the rain fell at its heaviest in early portion of the meet. Things stayed tight early as a large portion of the nation’s top programs felt each other out and jockeyed for position. It was Nate Mountain and Justin Wachtel that were leading the Cavalier pack through 3000 meters.

At around the 6k mark, Gary Martin and Will Anthony made their moves vaulting into the top-30. The Cavaliers continued to climb down the stretch as Martin powered to a 13th place finish with his time of (23:38.6). Will Anthony was the second Cavalier to cross the line in 29th place with his time of 23:45.8. Nate Mountain (23:56.2), Jacob Hunter (24:01.5) and Wes Porter (24:14.1) rounded out the scoring positions for Virginia going 41-53-78. Virginia posted an average time of 23:55.2 with a spread of just 35.6 seconds in a seventh-place team finish.

Similar to the men’s race, the women’s pack stayed bunched at the front for nearly all of the opening 3100 meters. Margot Appleton, however, positioned herself well at the front and never wavered. Appleton took her first lead of the race with just under 1k to go, however, coming through the finish line it was a third-place performance as she clocked a time of 16:21.5.

As a team, the Cavaliers surged to the finish line to secure third in the team standings. Anna Workman followed Appleton in 19th place (16:45.0) while Jenny Schilling (16:51.1), Caroline Timm (16:55.3) and Sophie Atkinson (17:10.6) rounded out the scoring positions for a total of 69 Cavalier points. Virginia was bested by only second-ranked Northern Arizona and ninth-ranked Stanford who finished first and second. The Cavaliers posted an average time of 16:48.7 with a spread of 49.1 seconds.

From Director of Cross Country & Track & Field Vin Lananna:

“Both the women and the men did a great job. I think it’s always good to get one of these under your belt so that you know what to expect as you approach the championship portion of the season. We always say we were going to take half the season up to this point and then start getting ready for the championship, so, it was a good start…Margot has come a long way; she is a champion. She placed herself in a great position to contend for the title and that’s the way she’s going to be all season.”

Panorama Farms & XC23
Virginia will host the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 18 at Panorama Farms. The 2023 championships will mark just the second time Virginia has hosted the event and the first time since the 1987 championships.

Following Virginia’s home opener, the Cavaliers will host the XC23 Pre-National (Oct. 14) which will serve as an opportunity for NCAA Division I teams from across the country to preview the course for the 2023 NCAA Championships.

Virginia Invitational
Panorama Farms
Charlottesville, Va. 

Men’s Team Results (8k) 

  1. Northern Arizona — 71
  2. BYU — 101
  3. North Carolina — 157
  4. Syracuse — 167
  5. Villanova — 169
  6. Air Force — 189
  7. Virginia — 214
  8. Butler — 259
  9. Stanford — 275
  10. Eastern Kentucky — 284
  11. Wake Forest — 288
  12. Colorado — 318
  13. Iowa State — 336
  14. Michigan — 344
  15. Princeton — 353
  16. Utah State — 364
  17. Washington — 376
  18. Duke — 454
  19. Navy — 468
  20. Charlotte — 468
  21. Providence — 489
  22. Georgetown — 494
  23. Columbia — 648

Women’s Team Results (5k)

  1. Northern Arizona — 48
  2. Stanford — 104
  3. Virginia — 123
  4. Washington — 131
  5. Georgetown — 204
  6. Iowa State — 231
  7. Michigan State — 243
  8. Providence— 246
  9. Colorado — 253
  10. Syracuse — 269
  11. North Carolina — 287
  12. Duke — 299
  13. Elon — 358
  14. Northwestern — 359
  15. Ohio State— 369
  16. Columbia — 404
  17. Air Force— 446
  18. Utah State — 477
  19. Liberty — 535
  20. Navy — 546
  21. Charlotte — 556
  22. Eastern Kentucky — 595
  23. James Madison — 636

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