BLOOMINGTON, IND.–The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s cross country teams swept to a pair of wins against strong competition at the Coaching Tree Invitational on Friday.
The Carolina men’s and women’s squads both finished first in their respective races in the race hosted by Indiana University, sweeping to wins for the second meet in a row to start the 2022 season after also doing so at the Charlotte Opener two weeks ago.
The men’s team took first place with 53 points, just ahead of No. 23 Georgetown (58) and top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Northern Arizona (60). The women won with an even-better 37 points, besting Georgetown (53) and host Indiana (113).
The Tar Heel women were dominant on Friday morning. Brynn Brown, the 2021 ACC Freshman of the Year, won her first race of 2022 by finishing first with a time of 20:18.6 on the 6K route. Four other UNC women finished in the top 13. Kelsey Harrington was fourth in 20:21.3, Sasha Neglia was sevrenth in 20:28.0, Taryn Parks was 12th in 20:37.5 and Fatima Alanis was 13th in 29:38.3. Carlee Hanson (22nd, 21:05.6) and Sarah Trainor (31st, 21:18.9) also posted solid finishes.
On the men’s side, Will Coogan took top honors for the Tar Heels, finishing fifth with a time of 23:48.0 on an 8K course. Marshall Williamson (eighth at 23:55.2) and John Tatter (ninth at 23:55.6) also placed in the top 10 to lead Carolina. The team’s depth shined with two more top-20 finishes by Michael Spragley (13th at 24:14.0) and Crawford Hope (18th at 24:20.1). Matthew Bauer (33rd, 24:53.1) and Jason Thomson (35th, 24:56.4) also turned in solid performances for UNC.
Carolina will return to action in two weeks at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., in two weeks on Friday Sept. 30.
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