UE cross country finishes ninth and 10th at Angel Mounds Invitational

It was another top 25 finish for freshman runner Sonja Inzinger (Mautern an der Donau, Austria) as the Purple Aces hosted the Angel Mounds Invitational on Friday. Competing among 19 teams, the UE women placed ninth in the 6K course while the men placed 10th in the 8K course. While Inzinger led the women, Samuel Lea (Woostchester, England) led the men in 33rd with a time of 26:19.7.

“The past couple of weeks we’ve been trying to work on pack running in practice. So for today’s race we attempted executing running the course in groups,” said Head Coach Brooks LeCompte following the meet. “I think it certainly helped for some, but overall I feel today’s race could have gone better. We’ve been dealing with some adversity for both teams lately with minor injuries and the flu affecting most of our women’s team this month.

“With rosters that are primarily newcomers with limited cross country experience, we can’t really complain with where we are currently. But we know we can be better than what we have been showing. These next two weeks will be crucial for getting everyone ready and healthy for MVC’s in Nashville. I’m confident that in two weeks we will be ready for the conference meet!”

Evansville’s women’s team ran the first race of the day in a longer 6K course at Angel Mounds. The Aces had seven runners finish with Inzinger and Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland) placing in the Top 40. All of UE’s women’s placed in the top 85 runners competing among 165 women. Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada) just barely missed the Top 50 with a 55th finish and a time of 23:59.5. Also finishing for Evansville was Sarah Vanderhoof-Dossett (Franklin, Tenn.) with a time of 24:49.1, Kyndall Anthis (Patoka, Ind.) with a time of 24:57.5, Shelby Bastin (Versailles, Ind.) with a time of 25:33.9, and Avery Stephens (Newburgh, Ind.) with a time of 25:39.2.

In the men’s 8K race, the Aces had two Top 50 finishes with Lea and Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain) at 43rd with a time of 26:36.1. UE’s men placed within the Top 100 of 167 runners with the team’s top five runners placing 70th or higher. Behind Lea and Rodriguez was Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis.) at 64th with a time of 27:37.8 and Owen Culpin (Hampshire, Ill.) in 68th with a time of 27:47.4. Rounding out Evansville’s runners on the men’s side were Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain) in 70th with a time of 27:48.7, Cedrik Flipo (Beloeil, Quebec, Canada) in 79th with a time of 28:11.7 and Joey Taylor (Grove City, Ohio) in 90th with a time of 28:57.9.

The Aces have two weeks to train before the MVC Championships in Nashville, Tenn. hosted by the Belmont Bruins. Races from Nashville are set for 10 a.m. for the women’s 6K and 11 a.m. for the men’s 8K.
MEN: 10th of 19 teams  (33, 43, 64, 68, 70, (79), (90)) – 278 points
33 Samuel Lea – 26:19.7
43 Rafael Rodriguez – 26:36.1
64 Woody Burrell – 27:37.8
68 Owen Culpin – 27:47.4
70 Alvaro Monfort – 27:48.7
79 Cedrik Flipo – 28:11.7
90 Joey Taylor – 28:57.9