Senior Kristina Aubert and the rest of the Arizona cross country team kicked off a new season this past Saturday in the George Kyte Classic, and they came out with a very impressive showing. 

Aubert took first on the 2.6-mile run with a time of 14:36.3, beating out second place, NAU’s Melanie Townsend, by more than 30 seconds. Aubert’s first place performance led the Wildcats in what was a very impressive season debut.

The rest of the women’s team had an excellent day as well, with junior Kate Penney (15:29.7), junior Claire Green (15:40.8) and senior Stephanie Bulder (15:50.7) all finishing within the top 10, landing at fourth, sixth and tenth place respectively.

The women’s team finished in second place for the day at the 2.6 mile, with an average time of 15:40.9. As a team, the women posted 43 points, just behind first place ASU who posted 38. The women’s team had an excellent start to the season, and they hope that they will only improve from here.

The men’s team started off their season with a solid performance as well, with three men landing in the top ten of the 4.5-mile event. Led by senior Sam Macaluso, who ranked fourth overall with the time of 23:02.3, and seniors Kenji Bierig and Matthew Beer, who took ninth and tenth with times of 23:24.1 and 23:25.5 respectively. The men’s team took third place for the day with an average time of 23:34.16 for the event.

Senior Dylan Hopper, junior Patrick Leary, junior Jonas Legernes and sophomore Brendan Tinoco all help contribute to the success of the men’s team, with all four members landing within the top 20.

On what should be considered a very successful day by the Arizona cross-country team, there is a lot of optimism going forward with the knowledge that the team can show great improvement. Up next for the Wildcats is the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson, on Friday, Sept. 16.

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