It was a winning weekend for the Wolfpack as the men’s and women’s cross country teams took first place at the Four Points by Sheraton Loyola Wolfpack Invitational held Sept. 10.

“I wasn’t shocked that we won. I expect my teams to be winning these meets. We’re unstoppable; way too deep for these other teams,” said Coach Andy Canegitta.

The women, as a whole, scored 46 points with an average time of 20:23 minutes for the Wolfpack, earning them their third consecutive win at the Wolfpack Invitational over runner-up Xavier University. Front runner, co-captain and general studies sophomore Vanessa Righeimer came in fifth overall with a time of 19:56. Visual arts senior Mary Clara Hutchison and music industry sophomore Elizabeth Gienger set two new career bests with 21:40 and 21:19.

“Our biggest competition was Xavier. We knew it would be close, but we have more depth. Our freshmen definitely stepped it up at this meet. It was great to win, but we always have room for improvement. We (women) have a good chance to be one of the top two teams at conference,” Righeimer said.

The top two conference teams get to compete at the national competition.

For the men, this was their first win at the home event, scoring 46 points over runner-up Mississippi College and an average time of 16:40. Not only was this the men’s first time winning the invitational, but this was their first time beating long-time Loyola rival, Xavier, since Canegitta’s arrival.

“The guys stepped it up big time,” Canegitta said.

Dylan DiMartino, general studies freshman, finished the invitational with a time of 16:21 minutes.

“We wanted to win, and that is what we did, together as a ‘Pack. Once we get our injured runners back, we’ll be unstoppable,” DiMartino said.

Canegitta said he is proud of both teams.

“The entire ‘Pack won the race, not just one runner,” Canegitta said.

“A thank you goes out to the work study students who helped make the event possible, especially the girls that worked the finish line. They were awesome,” Canegitta said.

Student volunteers arrived at the meet at 7 a.m. to help.

The cross country team will be traveling to Pensacola, Fla. for the Gulf Coast Stampede on Oct. 1.

Chelsey Richter can be reached at [email protected]