The App State men’s cross country team placed second with 51 points while the women’s team placed fourth with 127 points at the Covered Bridge Open in Boone on Friday. Senior Oliver Wilson-Cook led the charge for the Mountaineers in the men’s 8K, while fellow senior Jasmine Donohue set pace for the Mountaineers in the women’s 5K race.

“The men improved in terms of working on race strategy. We went out much slower today and we’re able to accomplish things that we have been working on in practice,” said men’s distance coach Brad Herbster. “Oliver was able to run faster off a slow pace and junior Garrett Bivens also improved from a race standpoint. They guys are working hard and we expect to continue to build and improve into Louisville.”

Wilson-Cook clocked an 8K time of 24:23.73 to place fifth individually. He nearly matched his personal best of 24:23.1, set at last year’s Live in Lou Cross Country Classic. Following close behind was senior Calbert Guest, who stopped the clock at 24:43.86 to place ninth. Sophomore Ethan Lipham and Bivens placed 14th (24:55.36) and 15th (24:58.90), respectively. Senior Dwayne Lillie placed 17th overall with a time of 25:05.85.

“Today our women worked on running tactically and putting together a strong second half of the race,” said women’s distance coach Annie Richards. “As a team, we averaged 15 seconds faster than the Firetower Project Run with a few standout performances, including Jasmine leading our team with a season best. Juniors Lana Farris, Karsyn Kane, and Bianca Copeman had significant improvement from the Firetower Project Run, and freshman Rhys Ammon clocked another lifetime best.”

Donohue posted a season best 5K time of 18:17.44 to place 26th. Kane finished 29th with a time of 18:24.81, Ammon posted a 5K personal best time of 18:31.19 to finish 33rd, and junior Linnea Maynard finished 34th with a time of 18:37.19. Junior Catherine Breault placed 43rd with a time of 19:03.06.

“All good things in distance running requires patience,” said Richards. “We have a ways to go and miles to run, but as we get deeper into the season, I’m seeing compounding improvements and building momentum.”

The Mountaineers will head to Louisville, Ky. for the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic on Sept. 30. The gold men’s race is set for 9:30 a.m. with the women’s gold race to follow at 10:15 a.m.