HUNTSVILLE, ALA. - The men's and women's cross country team traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to compete in the University of Alabama at Huntsville Invitational at John Hunt Park. Both teams had an impressive showing as the men's team placed third out of 48 teams and the women's team placed fourth out of 44 teams.
The Basics
As the men's team placed third, #4 Wingate University and #6 Lee were the only two teams ahead of the Golden Eagles.
Joao Pereira led the way for UC, placing second overall out of 470 runners. Pereira set a new school record of completing an 8k in 23:37. Pereira also recorded the fastest time in the MEC this season.
UC runner Thomas Termote finished only ten seconds behind Pereira at 23:47. Charleston's Alejandro Abellaneda was also a top-20 finisher with a time of 23:57.
Other notable UC runners include:
Zane Chalker - 24:15
Matthys Bourse - 24:30
Warren Thiel - 24:56
Noah Revels - 25:15
Emmanuel Yego - 25:18
Tyler Hayes - 25:46
Carter Lipscomb - 25:50
Jaime Blazquez - 26:30
Ashton Weaver - 26:51
On the men's performance, Head Coach Nick Bias said,
"I was very pleased with our effort and execution of our race plan against a stacked competitive field. I thought we did an excellent job of finding one another after the 1st kilometer of the race and were able to work toward the front of the pack. This result gives us confidence heading into championship season, which is the most important part of our season. The only two teams that beat us are ranked #4 and #6 in the national poll. We'll go back to work this week and fine tune some things to sharpen for the conference, regional and national meets coming up. "
The women's team placed fourth out of 44 teams in the 5k race. Nationally ranked #6 Wingate, #7 Cedarville, and #10 Lee were the three teams ahead of Charleston. The Golden Eagles had an impressive finish by beating #16 Lewis and #26 Rogers State.
UC's Elise Leveel placed second overall out of 396 runners. Leveel created a new school record of 17:19 in the 5k race. This 3.12 miles time is currently the fastest time in the MEC this season.
With a time of 17:27, Charleston's Flora Tissier finished shortly after Leveel, placing seventh at 17:27.
Other notable UC runners include:
Mercy Jepleting - 18:08
Lily Dowdell - 18:10
Julie LaFare - 18:12
Madison Woolwine - 18:50
Arriana Felix - 20:27
Morgan Turner - 20:38
Nadia Calore - 21:11
Indiyah Spetnagel - 21:21
Sheila Lagat - 21:58
Darshay Foster - 22:20
On the women's performance, Head Coach Nick Bias said,
"I thought the women ran very strong and really showed they are a top 25 team with their 17:50, 1-5 5k average. We had three women go to the front of the pack of 25 runners by the first kilometer, which showed they were ready to race and not afraid to run against such strong competition. The women wanted to make a statement in this race and they felt they were somewhat under ranked going into the meet at Alabama. I believe those teams know now that the Charleston women are for real after the race. We'll use this momentum as we prepare for conference, regional and national championship races."
Up Next
UC will travel to the University of Rio Grande in Ohio on Friday, October 28th to compete in the Rio Grande Invitational.
