The Western Carolina Cross Country team hosted the Catamount Classic on September 15, but unfortunately for the Cats, home-field advantage didn’t mean much. Western would finish fourth on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Western men had the highest finisher for either team as sophomore Stephen Hammond finished in 7th place overall among competitors in the 5K. Hammond’s time of 15:50.8 was 22.8 seconds behind the men’s winner Chad Holt of Clemson (15:28.0). Overall, WCU finished with 80 points as they had 7th, 16th, 17th, 19th, and 21st place finishers. Clemson won the event with a total of 25 points as they took 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 11th. Elon finished second with 49 points, while Wofford finished third with 63 points. WCU would beat out Spartanburg Methodist (128 points) and Brevard College (180 points). The other point scorers for Western were Josh Walker (16:18.8), Jesse Ramirez (16:22.5), Stephon Roach (16:26.8), and Jake Clawson (16:28.1). The Cats had four other finishers who did not score points as Field Miller finished 22nd (16:28.7), Todd Davidson finished 30th (16:56.1), Drew Tucker finished 39th (17:14.9), and Jestin Jennings finished 54th (19:26.2). Senior Kerrie Savery would pace the Catamount women as she finished in 9th place with a time of 15:19.3. Savery’s time was 42 seconds behind first-place finisher Katelyn Bastert of Duke University (14:37.3). Overall, the Lady Cats would finish with 95 points as they accumulated finishes of 9th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, and 25th. Duke would win the event with a total of 16 points as they took the top four positions and then sixth place. Furman was second with 73 points, while Wofford was third with 74. WCU would once again beat Spartanburg Methodist (133 points) and Brevard College (181 points). The other point scorers for the Lady Cats were Lindsay Groce (15:59.4), Jordan Gaddy (16:00.7), Leigh Nicholson (16:17.5), and Skye Aiello (16:26.4). The Lady Cats had three other competitors also run in the event as Megan Issacs finished 27th with a time of 16:27.2, Annie Bailey finished 29th with a time of 16:58.7, and Taylor Zimmerman finished 33rd with a time of 20.14.2. Western’s next meet will be on September 29 as they travel to Charleston for the Citadel Invitational.