The Sun Devil cross country season began with the Mark Covert Classic, featuring a top-two finish from redshirt sophomore Daan Haven and a top-five finish from junior Alexis Nichols in the women's 5K. Redshirt senior John Reniewicki finished 15th to lead the men's team in the men's 8K.
Haven finished the race with a time of 17:47, just two seconds behind the winner of the race, Cal Poly's Miranda Daschian. Nichols finished with a time of 17:54 in fifth place. Redshirt junior Samantha Ortega finished 18th, junior Megan Reniewicki finished 20th and junior Courtney Lewis finished 23rd as Arizona State's other high scorers.
Overall, the women's team scored 62 points, which was good for third place in the meet behind Cal Baptist, whose team scored 57 points and Cal Poly, whose team scored 56 points.
For the men's 8K, John Reniewicki finished with a time of 25:14. Sophomore Jackson Lewis followed behind Reniewicki in 33rd, finishing with a time of 25:42. Freshman Adam Klein finished 72nd, redshirt sophomore Michael Renner finished 74th and freshman Joseph Dicke placed 82nd to round out the scorers for the men's team.
The men's team finished with 235 points, putting them at 10th place in the meet.
Up next, the ASU cross country team will get set for the Dave Murray Invitational to take place in Tucson on Friday, Sept. 14.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.