The Arizona men and women’s cross country teams finished fourth and third, respectively, at the 32nd Annual George Kyte Classic at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Ariz., Saturday afternoon.

For the men, the top Wildcats finisher was redshirt freshman Nathan Kandie who finished ninth in the 8,000-meter race.

Senior Melanie McGrath took 3rd place for the women, which was the same finish she had last year in the George Kyte Classic, but she improved on her time by almost a half minute in the 5,000-meters.
Head cross country coach, James Li was pleased with the outcome and the direction Arizona cross country is headed this season.

“This is a race where most of the other schools like Arizona State, Northern Arizona, and Southern Utah put their top runners out there,” Li said. “We only ran maybe one of our top six on both the men’s and women’s side. So I thought we did really well.”

McGrath was a veteran at this course, and it showed with her top-three finish. But for many other Arizona runners, this was their first time out on Buffalo Park. So to see them excel was exciting for coach Li.

“The freshman did a really good job for their first time,” Li said. “I’m really happy with how they did and what they showed.”

The cross-country season is not a sprint. It’s a long marathon and Li is excited about the possibilities of what Saturday’s performance means for the season.

“Once we start progressing and the season goes a long we should be really good,” Li said. “It’s a long season, and I feel as the season go along we should be a force to be reckon with. This was a really great start”