ORLANDO, Fla. - Led by standouts Kadian Dunkley and Ricy Brown, the Wildcats wrapped their final regular season cross country meet Friday evening, at the UCF Sports Complex in the UCF Black and Gold Invitational.
Dunkley continued her path atop the women's team, topping the Lady Wildcats with a time of 23:00.52 on the 6k course, finishing 15th and knocking 29 seconds off her time in the event from last week's Florida State XC Invitational.
Crossing the finish line next for the women were Kirsten Taylor (90th, 26:19.55) and Morgan Brown (104th, 27:13.27).
Ricy Brown topped the men's team with a 23rd-place finish in 27:40.58 in the 8k. The sophomore has led the men's team in all races run during his two seasons in Maroon and Gold.
"Kadian and Ricy did well," said B-CU Distance Coach Garon Jackson. "It was a hard week of practice, running the [International Speedway Boulevard] bridge and having morning practice. I wanted to train through this meet."
The next two Wildcats in for scores on Friday were Curtis Riggins (44th, 29:51.10) and Jaquell Phillip (45th, 29:53.78).
"I was very happy to see Curtis and Jaquell run well with both under 30 minutes," Jackson noted.
The men's team performed the highest for B-CU on overall scoring, finishing eighth as a team, while the women's final ranking was 14th.
"It's our last meet until conference," B-CU Cross Country and Track & Field Head Coach Donald Cooper said. "Kadian and Ricy will lead the way for our teams, but it will be exciting to see if anyone else will step up and come through for us when it is all on the line."
The Wildcats now look to take two weeks of preparation with the MEAC Cross Country Championships on the horizon, Oct. 26-27, at Maryland Eastern Shore. Dunkley is hoping to defend her crown as MEAC Individual Champion and is on the right track, with the conference's top times this season. Brown finished 18th in last season's Championships.
