Terre Haute, Ind. and Louisville, Ky. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams pulled double duty this weekend as members of the VU men’s team took part in the Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute Friday night, while the rest of the men’s and women’s teams headed to Louisville for the 2024 Live in Lou Classic Saturday.
The weekend started with members of the men’s team taking the short trip to Terre Haute for a unique cross country race, racing under the lights at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Vincennes was paced on the day by freshman Stephen Hershberger (Fowler, Ind.) who finished with a time of 29:04.25 to place 148th overall.
Freshman Hayden Kler (Hillsboro, Ind.) was the next across the line at 29;32.83 to take 169th overall and freshman Alex Kwizera (Indianapolis, Ind.) was close behind at 29:43.87 in 173rd place.
Freshmen Tucker Henson (Louisville, Ky.) and Dakoda Greci (Danville, Ind.) were the next VU finishers with Henson posting a time of 31:19.33 and Greci ending at 31:54.49.
The Trailblazers night on the course was rounded out by sophomore Max Pendley (French Lick, Ind.) who finished with a time of 32:11.53.
“The guys who were not racing in Louisville got to race under the lights at Terre Haute Friday,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It was well worth the trip with four of the six guys coming away with a PR.”
“Stephen improved by almost 50 seconds,” Steigenga added. “Hayden had the fastest finish on the team, running almost a minute and a half faster. Alex did great in his first 8k of the year, finishing right after Hayden. Tucker managed to sneak under his old PR by two seconds.”
“It was fun to come out here and race in such an awesome atmosphere and make sure the whole team got an opportunity to compete this weekend,” Steigenga said.
The Trailblazers then completed their busy weekend Saturday at the 2024 Live in Lou Classic at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville.
The VU men’s team got the afternoon started in the Silver Race and were led by an outstanding performance by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who was the top scorer in the race and placed fourth overall with a time of 25:55.2.
Sophomore Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) was the next VU finisher, crossing the line with a time of 27:18.5 to take 30th overall.
Sophomores Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) were the next finishers, with Hostetler finishing just ahead of his teammate with a time of 27:56.4 and a time of 27:58.8 for Spence.
Freshman Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) rounded out the Vincennes scoring with a time of 28:23.0 to take 61st overall.
Sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) was right behind Kipsang with a time of 28:28.6, while sophomore Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) and freshman Rylan Mullins (Greenwood, Ind.) posted times of 28:52.4 for Manuel and 29:05.6 for Mullins.
The VU men’s team closed out the race with freshman Jeremy Delobel (Velpen, Ind.) coming through with a time of 29:27.3.
