Van Geffen leads the way at Belmont Opener

Sept. 3, 2016

Event: Belmont Opener
Day, Date: Saturday, Sept. 3
Host: Belmont University
Site: Percy Warner Park
Results: HERE
Results (PDF): BelmontOpenerWomensResults Get Acrobat Reader / BelmontOpenerMens FinalResults Get Acrobat Reader

NASHVILLE – Paced by sophomore Sara Tsai’s dominating performance, the Vanderbilt women made an impressive season-opening statement at the Belmont Opener on Saturday.

Competing on a pleasant morning at Percy Warner Park, the No. 28-ranked Commodores captured the team title by placing five runners among the Top-8.

Tsai was the star of the show, sailing to first place with a time of 17:29.9 and finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Brooke Kingma of Belmont. (See below for a video interview with Tsai, along with head coach Steve Keith and first-year assistant coach Rebekah Smeltzer).

The Commodores — competing on their home course that they share with Belmont — demonstrated their pack mentality, with a spread of just 19.5 seconds between their top five runners. Vanderbilt finished with 24 points, followed by Lipscomb with 31 and Belmont with 86.

Maddie Criscione was the second Commodore across the line, finishing third overall at 17:43.5. Devon Grisbaum was fifth at 17:46.1. Reagan Anderson was seventh at 17:47.7 and Megan Huebner was eighth at 17:49.4.

Vanderbilt had three other runners among the Top-20, with Courtney Kriegshauser taking 18th at 18:33.7, freshman Lauren Moffett taking 19th at 18:33.9 and Ginger Hutton finishing 20th at 18:34.7.

Vanderbilt freshmen Kendall Derry (18:40.8) and Reagan Bustamante (18:43.0) finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in their collegiate debuts.

On the men’s side, Jake Van Geffen took 19th with a time of 15:48.3 to pace the Commodores, who finished fourth among the D-I teams. Vanderbilt’s Nikolaos Gkotsis was 21st at 15:53.1.

A pair of freshmen were next for the Commodores, with Harrison Thomas taking 23rd at 15:56.0 and Andrew Irvine finishing 35th at 16:04.7. Jason Vincze was 37th at 16:09.1.

The Commodores return to action in two weeks, when they host their only home meet of the season, the Commodore Classic.

Women’s Team Results
1 Vanderbilt 24 1-3-5-7-8(18)(19)
2 Lipscomb 31 2-4-6-9-10(14)(17)
3 Belmont 86 12-13-16-22-23(24)(26)
4 Murray State 92 11-15-20-21-25(27)(28)
5 Austin Peay 160 29-30-31-32-38
6 Tennessee St. 175 33-34-35-36-37
Non-Division I
1 Rhodes 22 1-3-5-6-7(10)(11) 1:37:07
2 Trevecca Nazar 35 2-4-8-9-12(13)(14) 1:39:27

Vanderbilt results
1 Sara Tsai (So) 17:29.9
3 Maddie Criscione (Jr) 17:43.5
5 Devon Grisbaum (So) 17:46.1
7 Reagan Anderson (Sr) 17:47.7
8 Megan Huebner (Jr) 17:49.4
18 Courtney Kriegshauser 18:33.7
19 Lauren Moffett (Fr) 18:33.9
20 Ginger Hutton (So) 18:34.7
22 Kendall Derry (Fr) 18:40.8
23 Reagan Bustamante 18:43.0

Men’s Team Results
1 Belmont 26 1-2-6-8-9(12)(13)
2 Lipscomb 47 4-7-10-11-15(17)(22)
3 Chattanooga 83 3-5-19-24-32(33)(35)
4 Vanderbilt 99 14-16-18-25-26(28)(34)
5 Murray State 130 20-21-23-29-37(39)(40)
6 Austin Peay 176 30-31-36-38-41(42)(43)
7 Tennessee St. 209 27-44-45-46-47(48)
Non-Divison I
1 Rhodes 28 2-3-5-6-12(13)(14)
2 N’ville Harrie 31 1-4-7-8-11(15)(16)
3 Trevecca Nazar 73 9-10-17-18-19(20)(21)

Vanderbilt results
19 Jake Van Geffen (Sr) 15:48.3
21 Nikolaos Gkotsis (Sr) 15:53.1
23 Harrison Thomas (Fr) 15:56.0
35 Andrew Irvine (Fr) 16:04.7
37 Jason Vincze (So) 16:09.1
40 Evan Suzman (Fr) 16:11.4
48 Sam DeFabrizio (Jr) 16:21.1
49 Caleb Casolaro (So) 16:24.3
60 Daniel Arthur (Sr) 16:45.9
64 Waqqas Fazili (So) 16:52.9

Tsai: YouTube l Keith: YouTube l Smeltzer: YouTube