Blacksburg, Va. - Radford University senior Goran Nava (Castello de Brianza, Italy) took home the top medalist at the Virginia Tech Invitational this morning. He and freshman Mike Meehan (Orange, Va.), who placed fifth, paced the Radford University as they finished fifth overall. Freshman Maria Geary (Harrisonburg, Va.) led the women with a 19th place finish, as they finished fifth as well.

Nava finished the course in 24:28, 26 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor Michael Lawson of Virginia Tech. Eric Kweder of Cumberland and Mikey Guind of Charleston had crossed the finish line ahead of Nava, however, due to an error by on-course officials the pair made a wrong turn, short-cutting the course by a substantial distance. Their teams were not penalized for the error.

Meehan crossed the line at 25:04. It was Nava’s second win in three races and the third consecutive top five for Meehan.

Geary posted a time of 19:07, followed by Tricia Benson (Salem, Va.) who was 23rd with a time of 19:20.

Cumberland won the men’s race with 45 points, while Virginia Tech swept the top six spots to win the women’s race with 15 points. Hokie Marlies Overbeeke won with a time of 16:48.32.

The Highlanders will travel to Richmond, Va. on Sept. 26 to participate in the Maymount Invitational.