Dukes Win Queen City Invitational

Friday, September 27

Charlotte, NC

5 p.m.

James Madison University

Queens City Invitational

9/27/2019 7:35:00 PM | Cross Country

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – James Madison cross country won the Queen City Invitational out of 39 teams on Friday evening. Brooke Manion, Kayla Connelly and McKenzi Watkins all finished in the top-10.

The Dukes finished first as a team with 41 points followed by Milligan with 86 and the College of Charleston rounded out the top-3 with 165 points. The course at McAlpine Creek Park is a flat and fast course the Dukes used to their advantage.

JMU RUNNERS: Out of 312

Runners	Place	Time
Brooke Manion	3^rd	18:15
Kayla Connelly	6^th	18:23
McKenzi Watkins	8^th	18:26
Caitlin Swanson	11^th	18:28
Megan Keady	13^th	18:32
Maddy Hesler	23^rd	18:48
Sophie Bollinger	26^th	18:51
Clare Morelli	28^th	18:52
Jessica Cantrell	31^st	18:53
Averi Witt	33^rd	19:03
Annie Dunlop	67^th	19:46
Maggie Linton	109^th	20:32

MEET NOTES

JMU has finished in the Top-3 as a team in all three of their meets this season. The last time they finished in the Top-3 at three events as a team was 2017 (won the JMU Invitational, won the CAA Championship and won the ECAC Championship)
The last time JMU finished in the top-3 as a team through the first three team scored events was 1999. They won the Lou Onesty Invitational, finished second at the George Washington Invitational and Paul Short Invitational
All JMU runners except for Brooke Manion and Caitlin Swanson ran in their first collegiate 5K
The other Division I schools at the meet was The Citadel (15^th), Coastal Carolina (25^th), College of Charleston (3^rd), Gardner-Webb (33^rd), Mercer (13^th), Longwood (21^st), Stetson (11^th) and Liberty (8^th).
Manion set a new personal record for the 5K. Her previous was 19:17.6 which she set at the ECAC Championship on November 19, 2017

QUOTING COACH DAVE RINKER
"I was really pleased with how we handled the conditions. It was 91 at the time of the race, so the conditions were not ideal. They got in their groups and then really attacked the middle. While everyone else settled in we constantly moved over the last half of the race."

UP NEXT
JMU is set to compete at the Penn State Open on Friday, October 18 at 10 a.m. in their final race before the CAA Championship.