WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW men's and women's cross country will host the Wilmington Beach Blast 5K at Veterans Park on Saturday, Sept. 6.
The event starts at 5 p.m. and will feature elementary, middle school, high school junior varsity and varsity, college, and high school championship races. The college men's 5K begins at 6:30 p.m. and the women's 5K starts at 7 p.m.
The men's team will host Barton, Louisburg, Mount Olive, NC Central, NC State's club team, Presbyterian and Winston-Salem State. The women's team will compete against Barton, Mount Olive, NC Central, NC State's club team, Presbyterian, Winston-Salem State and Without Limits.
On the men's side, junior Griffin Wald will look to win the men's 5K for the second time in his career. In 2023, Wald captured the victory with a time of 15 minutes, 23.74 seconds, his career-best time in the 5K.
Taylor Anthony was the highest finisher for the men's team in 2024, placing fifth with a time of 16:09.8.
Sam Bland (8th – 16:21.9) and Nick Potter (11th – 16:29.2) also had strong races for the men's team last year.
Claire Carmichael paced the women's team in last year's race, running 20:13.2 for a 13th-place finish.
Freshmen Jalyn DeLeon and Elizabeth Dokulil were the top finishers for the women's squad at the Elon XC Opener 4K last Friday.
RACE SCHEDULE
5:00 p.m. | Elementary & Middle School 3K
5:30 p.m. | High School JV Girls 5K
6:00 p.m.| High School JV Boys 5K
6:30 p.m. | College Men's 5K
7:00 p.m. | College Women's 5K
7:30 p.m. | Varsity Boys 5K
8:00 p.m. | Varsity Girls 5K
8:30 p.m. | High School Championship Girls 5K
9:00 p.m. | High School Championship Boys 5K
