SALISBURY, N.C. - - The UVA Wise women's cross country team opened the 2022 season with a ninth place finish at the Catawba Fleet Invitational held at Salisbury Community Park Saturday.

Haley Sykes was the top finishing Cavalier in the event. The senior posted a time of 21:30.7 to place 32nd in the field.  Sister Kaley Sykes finished 55th with a time of 22:48.9 to be the next highest finishing UVA Wise runner while sophomore Isabella Mullins' time of 23:18.4 allowed her to finish in 65th place.

Freshman Gracie Cress' time of 25:59.1 placed her 91st with senior Lexie Rhoton's time of 26:10.8 saw her record a 95th place finish. Sophomore Paige Rutler's time of 32:25.6 placed 117th and Julie Dockery finished 120th with a time of 37:16.8.

"I was proud of our team in how we competed today," remarked first-year Head Coach Andrew Howard. "This was a good opening test for us and it was a good look at the conference course in race conditions."

Host Catawba took home the team title with a score of 42 five points better than fellow South Atlantic Conference member Wingate. Wingate's Gemma Rebollo took home individual honors with a time of 18:35.0.

Next up, the Cavs will compete in the Roanoke College Rooney Invitational Friday.