For the second-straight meet, the University of Evansville women’s cross country team captured the team championship as the Aces won the women’s 5k race and the University of Evansville’s men’s cross country team continued to impress at the Austin Peay Cross Country Festival on Saturday morning in Clarksville, Tenn..
Led by sophomore Anna Lowry and senior Sienna Crews, the Aces ran to a 24-point victory over host Austin Peay as six Evansville runners finished inside the top 10. Coming down to the finish line, Lowry and Crews battled for the individual championship with Lowry narrowly edging out Crews.
Winning by just seven one-hundredths of a second, Lowry set a new PR of 18:00.541, the 13th-fastest 5k time in Evansville women’s cross country history. Also setting a PR was Crews, who finished in second with a time of 18:00.619, a nearly 10 second improvement on her previous PR set at the Austin Peay Invitational on September 24, 2016.
Following the duo of Lowry and Crews was junior Hannah Welsh, who finished in sixth with a time of 19:16.209. In fourth for the Aces and seventh overall was freshman Katelyn Singh, who set a PR with a time of 19:36.581, while fellow freshman Haylee Harmeyer was just two seconds behind her teammate in eighth with a PR time of 19:38.832. Rounding out the top 10, senior Asthon Bosler picked-up a ninth-place finish with a time of 19:57.032.
Improving her time by over two-and-a-half minutes was freshman Haley Dean, who impressed with an 18th-place finish, crossing the line in 20:34.375. Together in a group of three Aces including Dean were sophomores Lauren Meyer (20:36.703) and Izzy Dawson (20:38.692) who finished in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Scoring a PR, freshman Savanna Mills secured a 23rd-place finish with a run of 20:56.972. Recording a time 30 seconds better than her PR, senior Hayley Elliott finished in a time of 21:35.000 in 29th place. Freshman Claire Dardeen continued the trend of Aces runners with a PR as Dardeen crossed the finish line in 34th in a time of 22:56.972, while fellow freshman Ah’tahja Hooper finished in 35th with a time of 23:09.191.
Evansville’s men continued to build upon strong performances, narrowly missing a team victory and an individual victory. The Aces finished with 37 points as a team, just one point behind host Austin Peay who captured the team championship in the four-mile race, a distance that only three current Aces had run in their collegiate careers.
Junior Stanley Chepchieng led the Aces, finishing in second, scorching his previous four mile PR by nearly two-and-a-half minutes with a time of 19:29.365. Chepchieng finished less than 13 seconds back of the individual champion, Wesley Gray of Austin Peay, who completed the course in 19:16.994. Just behind Chepchieng, sophomore Dawson Hood earned a top five finish with a PR time of 19:37.634, crossing the line in fourth.
Finishing in eighth, senior Jordan Carpenter recorded a 3:46 improvement on his previous PR set in 2015, finishing the race in 20:03.404 in eighth place. Following one after another, sophomore Kalen Ochs (20:17.665) and junior Ricky Hendrix (20:25.215) each set PRs as the duo just missed out on top 10 finishes in 11th and 12th.
Freshman Carson Kline reeled in a 16th-place finish in a PR time of 20:45.251 to help the Aces, while sophomore Phil Dzienciol (21:27.610) and freshman Kaleb Slagle (21:27.610) also set PRs, crossing the finish line in 22nd and 24th, respectively. Grouped together at the finish line, sophomore Tyler Frields-Reifsteck (21:40.262), freshman Jack Rauch (21:44.775), and sophomore Timmy Miller (21:49.429) continued the trend of PRs, finishing in 27th, 28th, and 29th places, respectively.
In 37th place, sophomore Tucker Dawson set a PR with a time of 23:24.225. Sophomore Grant Mangan crossed the line in a time of 24:56.565 earning himself a 41st-place finish. Just behind Mangan was freshman Kyle Thieme who recorded a time of 25:47.349, placing him in 42nd place.
The Aces won’t have to travel far for their next two meets of the season as Evansville next heads to Owensboro, Ky. on October 6 for the Fast Cats Classic in UE’s final meet leading into the Aces’ home meet, the UE Invitational, on October 13.
