DAYTON – The Wright State cross country teams kicked off the 2024 season on Friday night as the Raiders hosted the Mike Baumer Cross Country Classic at Fairborn Community Park.
The Raider men finished tied for second in their nine-team 5K race, with the Wright State women turning in a fifth-place finish in the eight-team women's 5K race.
Blake Rodgers paced five Raiders inside the top 15 with his fifth-place individual finish on the men's side while
Emma Johnson was sixth to lead four Wright State women inside their top 20 finishers.
Rodgers turned in a time of 15:13.2 on the way to his finish, with teammates
Evan McPherson (15:20.2) and
Preston Jackson (15:23.9) just behind him in ninth and 11th, respectively, while Patrick Stratzer (13, 15:24.9) and
Andrew Bugner (14, 15:27.1) closed out the pack inside the top 15.
Johnson's time of 18:04.3 was just off the top pace and less than two seconds behind the fifth-place finisher, while a trio of Raiders came in a minute later to round out the top 20 finishers.
Shelby Hept (18, 19:07.0),
Reece Barnitz (19, 19:08.0) and
Samantha Seas (20, 19:08.9) were stride-for-stride as the group crossed the line.
The race was a tremendous kickoff to the season for Wright State, who saw 17 different entrants in the men's race and 16 in the women's race.
Wright State is back in action in two weeks, again close to home, as the Raiders will compete in the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Challenge hosted by Cedarville on September 20 in another set of Friday night races.
