MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2025 season with a strong showing at the Wilberforce Invitational Friday (Aug. 29) evening. The Pioneer men won, while the women placed second.
 
The Pioneers claimed both individual titles as Kevin Hernandez (Plymouth, Ohio/Willard) and Audrey Helmick (Berkeley Springs, W.Va./Berkeley Springs) both set course records in today's victories. Hernandez completed the 5,000-meter course in 17:07.5, while Helmick posted a time of 20:54.0.
 
Marietta won the men's team title with 18 total points. Ohio Christian was second with 49 points, while Defiance placed third with 58 points.
 
Hunter Uptain (Millersburg, Ohio/West Holmes) finished in 17:19.8 to place second, while Charles Estadt (Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) posted a time of 17:22.6 to finish third. Aiden Westerman (Vincent, Ohio/Warren Local) (17:38.4) was fifth, followed by Ryan Bertolino (Marlton, N.J.) (18:46.2) in eighth, Max King (Granville, Ohio/Granville) (20:08.0) in 12th, Aiden Keener (Orrville, Ohio/Smithville) (23:04.2) in 19th, and Hunter Wick (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) (25:40.6) in 22nd.
 
Defiance edged out the Pioneers to win the women's team title. Defiance finished with 27 points, one better than Marietta's 28.
 
In addition to Helmick's win, Katelyn South (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) was fifth overall with a time of 24:13.5, followed by Michaela Hieronymus (Letart, W.Va./Wahama) (25:08.0) in sixth, Leilani Navarro (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Wood County Christian School) (26:04.7) in seventh, and Rami Padilla (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) (30:12.5) in ninth.
 
The Pioneers are back in action at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday (Sept. 19) at Cedarville University.
 
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.