ELON, North Carolina – The UNCW cross country teams opened the season late Friday with a fifth-place finish in the women's 4K race and a sixth-place finish in the men's 6K race at the Elon Opener on the campus of Elon.

Sophomore Summer Herbertson paced the Seahawk women with a 14:31.8 time in the 4K race while freshman Griffin Wald fashioned a 19:00.1 time in his collegiate debut to lead the UNCW men in the 6K race.

Duke swept both the men's and women's races while High Point was the runner-up in both events.

Hebertson came in 26th place out of 115 racers to lead UNCW's nine women runners. Wald, meanwhile, finished in 45th out of 146 runners from 13 schools in the men's 6K.

In addition to the Seahawks, Blue Devils and Panthers, the competition featured runners from host Elon, Averett, Barton, Campbell, East Carolina, Elon, Fayetteville State, Meredith (women-only), North Carolina A&T, NC State (women-only), Rockingham CC (women-only), Shaw, UNC Pembroke, USC Aiken, and Winthrop.

The Seahawk teams next stage their only home event of the season, the UNCW Beach Blast, next Friday, Sept. 8, 2022, at Olsen Park.