DePaul men’s and women’s cross-country opened their season at the Bradley Invitational in Peoria, Illinois on Friday. The teams finished second overall on both sides.

“Overall, I was pretty pleased,” said Geoff Wayton, DePaul’s head coach of men’s and women’s cross-country. “I thought our men responded well, especially without being sharp and prepared for a top-end competition…our top three I was really pleased with.”

In the men’s 8k race, Jacob Holmes, a graduate Florida State transfer, finished first among the men’s team and sixth overall on Friday. It was his first race at DePaul.

Graduate Olivia Borowiak finished second overall in the women’s three-mile race.

“Olivia…she took off,” Wayton said. “She took the lead early…Olivia ran only less than a half-second off the previous course record…four seconds faster than she did last year.”

The surprise of the week was senior Lesley Viveros, who ran 1:37 faster than she did last year on the same course.

“I was really impressed with [Viveros] and I hope that she continues to latch on with Meaghan [Andrews] and Maddie [Volz] in workouts and practice,” Wayton said.

Wayton compared what he saw on Friday to last year’s race in Peoria.

“Last year…they ran really well in this Bradley Intercollegiate and then they were just stale for a week. The workout after was honestly our worst workout of the year,” Wayton said. 

Following that workout, they slipped in their next meet against Loyola, with the men finishing third and the women finishing fifth. This year, Wayton is approaching their start as more of a steady crescendo into the season rather than a burnout after a hard early season push.

“All along, the plan was to open up here, not be as sharp, and then have a nice buildup into Loyola,” Wayton said. “I hope this year, this is a buildup.”