Wheeling, W. Va. - For the second straight race, the Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team would challenge themselves against top NCAA Division I talent, when they traveled to Youngstown State on Saturday. The Cardinals were able to place two in the top 60 of the event, running against some of the top runners in the region. The day was headlined by a PR for the second week in a row, as the top three Cardinal runners all dropped their times from their first race of the season.
Leading the field for the Cardinals for the second week in a row was Madison Conrad, who finished 40th overall with a time of 26:32. She was working with a much dryer course this time around, and dropped her time from her season opening meet by nearly 20 seconds. She would put together a 7:07 minutes/mile on the day and was just 15 seconds shy of the runner in front of her. Out of the NCAA DI and DII competition in the field, she would finish 24th overall and looks to continue her success as they head into their final regular season event.
The lone PR on the day came from Jade Trowell, who sent her 6K PR for the second race in a row. She would end up running a time of 28:52 to finish 59th overall, her highest placement of her career. She would knock almost another minute off her time, running a 28:52 to get inside the top 60 of the event. Her mile pace would sit at a 7:45 as she continues to excel on the Cross Country. While not a PR for the event, Luci Banks would have the biggest improvement from race one to race two. She would end up finishing 64th with a time of 29:24, taking about two minutes off her season opening run. She ran a 7:53 minute mile as she cracked the 30 minute mark for the first time this season.
Rounding out the day for the Cardinals were Jezabella Cohen and Miracle Jones, who finished 83rd and 84th respectively. Cohen would run a time of 36:09, while Jones put together a 37:29.
The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team returns to action on Saturday, October 10, when they run at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.
