Michelle Smith (middle)
(submitted photo)
Michelle Smith, a high school student at Montverde Academy, made her 5 km (3.1 mile) cross country debut on September 18 at the Zak Lucas Invitational in Brooksville, Florida. Her time helped Team Montverde Girls qualify for the Elite Division at the Katie Caples Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla. on September 25. At the Caples Invitational, Smith ran a personal best in the 5K with a time of 19:55.1, finishing 20th out of 186 athletes. Her next competition will be the Florida Runners Invitational on October 1st in Lakeland, Florida.
Mikaela Smith (submitted photo)
Michael Smith, a senior at Austin Peay State University, ran back-to-back cross-country races. Starting at the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tennessee on September 3, with a 20:42 for the 3.1 mile race, which was her fastest season opener. At the Commodore Classic in Nashville on September 17, she ran 20:01, almost breaking the 20-minute mark. Mikaela Smith will next be running on October 8th at the Brescia Invitational in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Rachel Conhoff began her cross-country season with the Ursinus College women’s cross-country team at the John Hopkins Invitational on September 2, where she won the 5K in 20:43 with a 28th place finish and 1st place for her team finished. Conhoff followed that performance with a 4th place finish in a field of 152 competitors at the Dutchmen Invite at Union Canal Tunnel Park on September 11th. She completed the 5K in 19:36.8 and assisted her team, the Ursinus College Cross-Country Team, by finishing 3rd in the team standings.
Rachel Conhoff (1372) (Submitted Photo)
On September 25, at the Penn State Abington Invitational, Conhoff finished 1st out of 74 athletes on an extremely hilly course with a time of 22 minutes and 1 second. She led her team to 1st place in the team standings, and her team achieved a near-perfect score of 17 points, with the five scoring members of her team taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th place. A perfect result is 15 points. with the five athletes ranked 1st through 5th. Conoff’s next race will be the Paul Short Run on October 1st in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Osaze DeMund-Williams (submitted photo)
Osazi DeMund-Williams, who attends the University of Texas El Paso, competed in the 2021 Lori Fitzgerald Open on September 18. He finished 56th overall in a time of 18 minutes and 17 seconds. DeMund-Williams competed untied at the event. This means that he did not represent his university at this event, even though he competed. In cross country, an athlete cannot represent anyone by being unattached for a variety of reasons. The DeMund-Williams varsity team won the event with the best score of the six teams present. Cross country is a team sport where your team consists of seven athletes. Five points and the team with the lowest score wins.
Jah Whyte (Submitted Photo)
Yeh Whyte, a junior at Maumelle High School, competed at the Little Rock Cross Country Classic on September 11 in Little Rock, Ark. Whyte participated and finished 5th overall and 1st for his team while setting a personal best in the 5K of 17:12. Whyte will next compete in the Bryant Cross Country Race on October 9th in Bryant, Ark.
The Athletics Federation (VITFF) will kick off the Virgin Islands cross-country season at St. Croix in October. VI Paving and the Department of Agriculture are helping to create a new cross-country course where the races will take place.
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