MUTISYA, WYSS LEAD RAMS TO THIRD-PLACE SHOWING AT SPIDER OPEN
Junior comes back strong after stumbling late in race
Full Results

RICHMOND, Va. – Led by the ferocious one-two punch of junior Stephen Mutisya (Machakos, Kenya) and senior Jay Wyss (Richmond, Va.), the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s cross country team opened the 2008 campaign with a third-place showing at the Spider Alumni Open hosted by the University of Richmond.

Mutisya had the most impressive showing of the day with a second-place overall finish, even after falling down late in the race. The junior standout got back up and roared past other runners to join the leaders but did not have enough left to catch the overall leader. He finished the 5k course with a time of 15:13.50.

Wyss was strong in his return to the course as he finished just behind his teammate Mutisya in third place with a time of 15:18.40.

Freshman Tyler Simmons (Woodbridge, Va.) had an outstanding debut for the Black and Gold as the newcomer finished 18th overall with a time of 16:04.10.

Rounding out the top seven for the Rams was senior Joey Wingo (Richmond, Va.) in 26th place, junior Piotr Dybas (Jaslo, Poland) in 32nd place, sophomore John Vial (Glen Allen, Va.) in 40th place and senior Tim Rusterholtz (Lewisville, N.C.) in 41st place.

“It wasn’t a bad showing for our season opener,” Head Coach Julian Spooner said. “Jay and Stephen both had strong races and Tyler had a great start as a freshman. It’s early on and we defintely saw some things we can improve on.”

The Rams return to action next Friday evening in Blacksburg as they compete in the Virginia Tech Relays. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m.