SAVOY, ILL. – Rutgers cross country got a look at the site of the Big Ten Championships course on Friday, September 13 for the Big Ten Preview in Savoy, Illinois. Lorena David posted a top-20 finish to lead the women's squad.
 
"Overall, it was a mixed day for us on the course," said Nicol Starkes, associate head coach. "Although it's still early in the season, it was beneficial for us to get a preview of the course we'll be running at the Big Ten Championships. We came away from today knowing what we need to work on to improve our performances when we come back in seven weeks.
 
"For the women, Lorena David had a great day placing 14th and breaking 21 minutes for the first time. Five of our top seven finishers are either true freshmen or have freshmen eligibility so it was good experience for them to get acquainted with Big Ten competition. Dan Pedretti led our 1-5 finishers to a 27 second spread. Our underclassmen, Stephen Kyvelos and Hisham Ettayebi did a great job of stepping up today to fill in the gaps."
 
David ran a time 20:58.60 to lead the women, followed by Kelseigh O'Neil, who placed 37th in 21:40.60 and Casey Walter in 43rd place with a time of 21:52.60. Rounding out the top five was Madison Brown (71st, 22:23.30) and Cassidy Kidd (85th, 23:11.30)
 
Dan Pedretti was the first to cross the finish line for the men's team as he placed 50th overall with a time of 24:49.20. He was followed by a tight cluster of Scarlet Knights that included Stephen Kyvelos in 55th with a time of 24:52.70, Brian Pedretti, who placed 57th in 25:05.60, Hisham Ettayebi (59th, 25:13.50) and Micah Lawson (60th, 25:16.60).
 
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to compete in the 50th anniversary of the Paul Short Run on Saturday, October 5, hosted on the campus of Lehigh University.
 
Team Scores
Men's Results – 8K
8. Rutgers (248)
50. Dan Pedretti                             24:49.20
55. Stephen Kyvelos                      24:52.70
57. Brian Pedretti                          25:05.60
59. Hisham Ettayebi                      25:13.50
60. Micah Lawson                         25:16.60
(63) Billy Clewell                            25:28.20
(69) Gavin Richards                       25:41.60
 
Women's Results – 6K
9. Rutgers (206)
14. Lorena David                            20:58.60
37. Kelseigh O'Neil                        21:40.60
43. Casey Walter                           21:52.60
71. Madison Brown                       22:23.30
85. Cassidy Kidd                             23:11.30
(86) Ava Flaherty                           23:13.50
(88) Michaela Schlemo                 23:22.40