Oh, what a difference a couple of weeks make. The Dalton State women's cross country team traveled to the University of West Georgia to run in the Coach Gary Wilson Invitational. They were the lone NAIA full team in attendance in the 10-team race that took place on the coolest Saturday morning of the season. It was nice to experience pleasant weather since the course was going to have no mercy. The course at West Georgia has absolutely no flat stretches and contains some pretty steep inclines, including a brutal climb just 100 meters from the finish line.
Despite the course, the Lady Birds had their fastest race of the season as they finished in second place behind perennial powerhouse University of North Georgia.
Leading the way, once again, for the Roadrunners was senior Kathryn Vradenburgh who took first place overall and set a new course record in the process finishing in 18:42. It was 36 seconds faster than she had run last year when she won the same race. She finished 18 seconds in front of second place who happened to be her teammate, junior Riley Jo Ford (19:00).
The next Roadrunner to finish was sophomore Giselle Dominguez who finished in 19:45, which was good for 7th place overall. Finishing 4th for the Lady Birds was senior Haley Tillery who came home 15th in 21:00. Rounding out the scoring top five for the Lady Roadrunners was junior Kayla Mattox who finished in 21:12 and was 18th overall.
The 6th team finisher was sophomore Ella Coley, who finished 25th in 21:35. Senior Becca Poe was close behind her in 30th (21:52). Freshman Marlene Paez finished 32nd in a time of 22:23.
The Lady Roadrunners performance in West Georgia was their fastest race of the year despite it being the toughest course of the year.
The Lady Roadrunners will be in Charlotte, North Carolina in two weeks to take on a stacked field in the Royals Cross County Challenge at McAlpine Creek Park on Friday, October 7.