VMI men’s and women’s cross country showed a strong performance at the 2022 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships with promising individual performances from the Keydets.—Photo courtesy VMI Keydets.
The VMI cross country teams showed maximum effort Oct. 30 at the 2022 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by The Citadel at Johns Island County Park in Charleston, South Carolina.
The VMI men finished the 8K race in ninth place with 242 points while the VMI women also placed ninth overall with 287 points.
Trent Whittaker ’23 led the VMI men with a 30th-place finish in 25:43.70 and was pursued by Andrew Hirneisen ’24 in 54th place in 26:37.20. Ben Hagerich ’25 arrived close behind in 56th place in 26:39.80, and Zach Diller ’23 came in 63rd overall in 26:54.90. Brian Tavenner ’25 also scored team points with his 66th-place mark in 27:05.70.
Nicholas Ligday ’26, D. Alex Fiorillo ’23, Craig Swain ’25, and Stephen Kelley ’24 also competed for the VMI men.
Furman University won its 10th straight SoCon title for both the men’s and women’s cross country.
Danielle Gray, VMI head cross country coach: “Despite our team results, there were some individual performances that were positive and can be built upon in the coming months,” said Gray. “On the women’s side, Naomi Hahn ’24, Nathalie Lavender ’26, and Abby Fiorillo ’25 ran lifetime bests in the 5K. Trent Whittaker ’23 had the best performance of the day for VMI and was able to put himself in a good position right from the start of the race. Andrew Hirneisen ’25, Ben Hagerich ’25, and Zach Diller ’23 all ran well as our 2-4 runners for the team.”
Trent Whittaker ’23 – 30th – 25:43.70
Andrew Hirneisen ’25 – 54th – 26:37.20
Ben Hagerich ’25 – 56th – 26:39.80
Zach Diller ’23 – 63rd – 26:54.90
Brian Tavenner ’25 – 66th – 27:05.70
Nicholas Ligday ’26 – 73rd – 27:34.00
Alex Fiorillo ’23 – 75th – 27:45.70
Craig Swain ’25 – 79th – 28:26.20
Stephen Kelley ’24 – 80th – 28:34.10
* Meet record
Editor’s Note: This article was first published on vmikeydets.com.
