The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s cross country programs opened up the 2022 season by hosting the annual Winrow Open at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso on Friday. This marked the first meet under the direction of Interim Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vincent Walker. The Valpo men were paced by Ignacio Veloz Bonilla (San Juan, P.R. / American Military Academy), while Kaitlynn Leady (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) led the way for the Valpo women.  

How It Happened

• Veloz Bonilla turned in a personal-best 6K time of 18:39.2 as the first Beacon to cross the finish line. He was a touch outside the top 10 as only runners from Notre Dame finished ahead of him. Veloz Bonilla outdid all 10 Purdue runners who participated in the meet.
• The second Valpo runner to cross the finish line was Evan Walda (Fort Wayne, Ind. / South Side), who posted a time of 18:50.4 to crack the top 20. He also achieved a 6K PR.
• Simeon Ehm (Castle Rock, Colo. / Heritage) notched his best 6K time to date with an 18:57.8, rounding out a trio of Beacons below 19 minutes. He finished narrowly behind Walda as the 21^st runner to cross the finish.
• Eric Carothers (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) turned in a time of 19:04.5, with freshman Joseph Scheele (Mahomet, Ill. / Mahomet-Seymour) rounding out the top five Valpo runners at 19:11.4 in his collegiate debut.
• In the women’s 5K, Leady turned in a 20:04.4, outdoing her previous PR while finishing in the top 20. Freshman Alina Worzella (Martinsville, Ind. / Martinsville) stopped the clock at 20:37.6 in her collegiate debut.

Up Next

The Beacons will return to competition on Friday, Sept. 16 at the Spartan Invite, hosted by Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.