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The University of Cincinnati men's and women's cross country teams opened up the 2014 season on Friday night at the 33rd Annual Queen City Invitational in Mason, Ohio, but due to the scorching temperatures, the Bearcats coasted through the meet.
"The conditions were brutal today," said associate head coach Sam Burroughs. "The real-feel temperature was 100 degrees at the start of the men's race. So a decision was made to preserve the safety of our student-athletes by taking it easy. We now look forward toward our "real opener" in two weeks."
Due to NCAA regulations regarding the date UC began preseason practice, the Bearcats had to get a scored meet in by Friday night.
Since Burroughs expected the weather to be very hot for racing conditions, he put the squad through an intense tempo workout the day before knowing it would be very tough to have a good performance on Friday because of the extreme heat.
Last season, the men's team finished fourth overall, but due to the modest pace this year, the men claimed 23rd. All seven of UC's runners jogged the 5k race in 21:10 and finished in order from 149th to 155th.
The women followed the men's lead and took 18th overall after finishing fifth last season. All the women jogged the 5k race in 24:43 and finished in order from 105th to 110th.
The Bearcats now look forward to their "real" 2014 opener on Saturday, Sep. 20 at the Friendship Invitational in Cedarville, Ohio. The meet is slated to begin at 9:30 a.m.