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BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech freshman Kayla Richardson’s career got off to a memorable start, as the distance runner won the women’s race at the season-opening Hokie Invite held Friday evening at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course on the Tech campus.

Looking like a seasoned veteran, Richardson ran a 4K version of the course in a time of 14 minutes, 13.90 seconds. The Blacksburg native beat teammates Katie Kennedy and Lauren Berman by more than two seconds. Both Kennedy and Berman ran unattached.

Officially, another Blacksburg native, Jennifer Fleming, finished second in a time of 14:20.20. Overall, Fleming came in eighth, as several of the Hokies’ runners ran unattached. Tessa Riley came in fourth, followed by freshman Sarah Edwards, sophomore Rachel Pocratsky and freshman Sara Freix.

Behind Richardson, the Tech women won the team competition with 15 points. Radford came in second, followed by Concord and Longwood.

On the men’s side, Daniel Jaskowak officially won the race in a time of 18:52.70. But the Hokies’ Daniel Rau, running unattached, crossed the finish line first, beating Jaskowak by three-hundredths of a second.

Peter Seufer (18:52.90), Andrew Gaiser (18:53.10) and Brent Musselman (18:53.30) rounded out the top five. Officially, Gaiser came in second, followed by Vincent Ciattei and Ashkan Mohammadi, who both tied for third (18:53.30). Seufer and Musselman both ran unattached.

The Tech men won the team competition with 15 points. Concord came in second, followed by Radford and Longwood.

Both Tech teams resume competition in two weeks when both participate in the Virginia Tech Alumni Invite on Sept. 16. The women’s race starts at 6 p.m. at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track