With the finish line in sight, Mariana Lucena knew she had to make a move in order to repeat as UNC Invitational champion.
As she hit the closing 500 yards, Lucena overtook her freshman teammate Jacque Taylor and won the home event at Finley Fields.
“I saw that she was starting to slow down and I felt good,” Lucena said. “I didn’t feel too tired so I just went for it to defend the title.”
Strong individual performances like Lucena’s led both the men’s and women’s North Carolina cross country teams to convincing wins against Gardner-Webb University and N.C. Central University in the UNC Invitational on Friday.
Taylor, who finished second for the second time this season, improved more than 16 seconds on her time from the Sept. 3 Covered Bridge Open in Boone, N.C. She was one of six women to improve her time from the last meet, with all nine runners finishing in the top nine.
“It’s kind of preseason, so working hard, going through it with the training block we’re doing and to still come out and win races, that’s very good,” coach Peter Watson said.
On the men’s side, senior Evan Watchempino won his second race in two weeks. He was the only student to complete the four-mile course in less than 20 minutes.
“He’s really fast,” said Brock Baker, a 2009 UNC graduate who ran in the event Friday. “I was fortunate enough to run on a team with him for the last couple of years and he’s a great teammate, great competitor.”
This victory makes back-to-back wins for Watchempino, a feat that he has never accomplished at the collegiate level. It is also the third time he has won this event.