Senior Lucy Cheadle placed first to lead the No. 19 Washington University women’s cross-country team to a first-place finish, while senior Andrew Padgett also claimed first individually to lead the No. 11 men to a second-place team finish in the Wheaton Gil Dodds Invite on Saturday.

Runners from Wash.U. competed against a field of over 200 runners and stiff competition. The men’s team finished behind only No. 5 Central College, and the women’s team bested No. 4 University of Chicago to finish in a tie for first place with No. 6 Oberlin College.

On the women’s side, Cheadle led the way for the Bears by claiming first place by a wide margin. With a finishing time of 21:03 in the 6-kilometer race, she won by nearly a minute—the runner-up finished with a time of 22:00. Behind Cheadle, sophomore Sarah Curci came in fifth place to highlight a high-placing pack of runners that included junior Ellen Toennies (10th), freshman Alison Lindsay (14th) and sophomore Kimberly Johnson (18th).

In general, Cheadle was encouraged by the performance and improvement of the younger runners on the team.

“That group, I think today especially, really did a great job of moving up together,” Cheadle said. “My plan was just to try and stay relaxed for the first couple of miles and just getting a good, hard first-race effort. The team did awesome, probably even exceeded my expectations, so I think it really proved to us that we’re starting to get competitive this year.”

On the men’s side, even though the team fell behind on points with 59 compared to Central College’s 37, the Bears fared almost equally to Central in total time, logging a mere seven seconds more per each of the five scoring runners.

Like Cheadle, Padgett also won his race by a wide margin. The senior finished with a time of 24:47, well in front of the second-place runner, who clocked in 32 seconds later. Junior Josh Clark (11th), senior Garrett Patrick (12th) and sophomore Ryan Becker (14th) were the other top finishers for the men’s team.

Overall, head coach Jeff Stiles believes that the Bears’ individual performances, along with the teams’ overall performances, were positive signs as the Red and Green have their sights set on more important meets later in the year.

“Lucy [Cheadle] and Drew [Padgett] demonstrated that they will be forces to be reckoned with in November. More importantly, both teams executed their race plans very well and affirmed that the teams will be a presence in November as well,” Stiles said. “We ran well but definitely have a lot more on the table and a lot more to prove. [It was] a perfect early-season meet. Our focus is November, and today we showed ourselves that we are right on target.”

Cheadle echoed Stiles’ sentiments and was quick to point out the team’s main goal this season.

“This is really only a starting point for us. We don’t take this race super intensely. We’re not trying to be our best now, and I think that’s why it was so exciting. I think we are all going to get a lot better as the season goes on. Our main goal is to be our best at the end of November, and this is a really good first step,” Cheadle said.

The Bears take the next step on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville John Flamer Invite.