Meet: Spider Alumni Open
Location: Pole Green Park (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Distance: 6k (3.73 miles)
 
Team Scoring: 1- Virginia (15), 2- American (67), 3- William & Mary (80), 4- Richmond (83), 5- VMI (170), 6- Christopher Newport (200), 7- George Mason (205), 8- VCU (207), 9-Longwood (229), 10- Mary Washington (288), 11- St. Mary's (Md.), 12- Virginia Wesleyan (400), 13- Patrick & Henry CC (402), 14- Regent University (422)
 
The short story: The standout sophomore Cole Dawson led the Rams across the finish line, carding a top 50 finish and a personal best time in the 6k. Following suit was senior standout Kendall Phillips and Sophomore Jacob Barrow, who finished just outside the top 50.
 
THE FINISH LINE

• Cole Dawson (41^st/19:23.7) was the top finisher for the Rams, breaking his personal record of 19:45 for a 6k by 21.9 seconds
• Sophomore Jacob Barrow and Senior Kendall Phillips finished 54^th and 55^th respectively, with Barrow running his first career collegiate 6k
• Jaiden Lockhart also recorded a personal best 6k time (19:44.0), besting his former record of 20:20.3 by 36 seconds

HEAR FROM THE RAMS
"Today we had a lot of middle-distance guys step it up big time which is great to see. The returners from last cross-season are deep into heavy mileage weeks but were still able to show up today. We're all now locked in on CNU in a few weeks." – Cole Dawson
 
"I think we are all around pretty happy with the day. It's always nice to get through the first one and shake the dust off. A lot of student-athletes stepped up today which is helping add some more confidence as we continue the season. We're looking forward to attacking the later races with a bit more aggression but first we'll have our first full-length races at CNU in a couple of weeks to get excited for." – Director of Cross Country Austin Savage
  
UP NEXT
VCU cross country's next competition will be at the Christopher Newport Cross Country Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13 in Newport News, Va., with this being their last in-state meet until the A-10 Championships in November.