The Wright State men’s and women’s cross country teams will be traveling to Kenosha, Wisc. this weekend for the Horizon League Championships and will look to finish the year strong and place high in the conference.
Both teams are young, but have shown improvements throughout the year and bright moments showing a promising future for both teams.
One of those bright moments was the meet in Peoria, Ill. at the Bradley Classic. Nick Durkee led the men’s team with a time of 26:57 in the 8K race. Durkee is a sophomore who walked-on the team as a freshman and now, according to coach Fabien Corbillon, has become the No. 1 runner on the team.
The Bradley Classic was a high point for the women’s team who is hitting its stride as of late. WSU finished the race with three of its runners posting top 10 times in program history for the 6K. Sophomore Alexandra Brown led the way with a time of 23:01, which is the third fastest time in WSU history. Corbillon said Brown has been the MVP of the team so far this season, and has a good chance of being a first-team all conference runner this season.
Brittany Bailey followed Brown at 23:13 and Vanessa Hopwood at 23:33, who Corbillon expects to have a chance at being honored this year.
“They’ve already done more than we could hope for. The girls are very young, we have no seniors. But I think this year we have the potential to finish higher than any women’s team has ever finished at the League Championships,” said Corbillon.
The runner to keep an eye on for the Raiders at the League Championships this year is freshman Andrew Lake. He led all runners for Wright State at a couple meets already this season.
“I think that within the next couple of years, Andrew will be the number one runner in the Horizon League, and he may eventually be the best runner ever at Wright State,” said Corbillon.
The Raiders took a short-handed roster to the Cedarville Open last Friday as a warm-up meet before the League Championship. The Horizon League Championship will be held this Saturday at noon.
