The top seven runners for USI were separated by less than a minute. Junior Bastian Grau (Hôchstadt, Germany) paced the Screaming Eagles with a time of 24 minutes, 40 seconds and a 29th-place finish. Seniors Noah Lutz (Evansville, Indiana) and Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) finished with times of 24:46 and 24:55. Lutz time was good enough for a 35th-place finish, while Broughton earned 47th, respectively.

Also finishing in under 25 minutes, junior Jesse Stanley (Chandler, Indiana) crossed the finish line in 54th with a time of 24:59.

Finishing in the top-100 were sophomore Darin Lawrence (Indianapolis, Indiana) and junior James Cecil (Owensboro, Kentucky) in 68th and 82nd, respectively. Junior Cain Parker (Petersburg, Indiana) rounded out the top seven USI finishers, playing 101st.

Out of 33 teams in the Gold Race, USI placed fifth overall with 228 defeating the host, University of Louisville, in the process. Grand Valley State University one the event and was the only NCAA Division II school to finish ahead of the Eagles.

Freshman Eli Hill (Bloomington, Illinois) paced USI in the Blue Race with a time of 26:18 finishing the race in 48th-place. In a field of 41 teams, the Eagles placed 21st.

USI will return to action next weekend, Saturday, October 8 in Romeoville, Illinois for the Conference Crossover hosted by Lewis University.

Aces run well at Greater Louisville Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One of the biggest races in the country saw the University of Evansville cross country teams run well, setting personal records on both sides at the 2016 Greater Louisville Classic, which was held at Tom Sawyer Park.

The men took 34^th place out of 41 teams in the 8K race, which featured 358 runners.  Leading the squad once again was Ricky Hendrix.  The freshman ran his fastest 8K time, checking in at 27:11.00, beating his previous PR by four seconds.  He placed 120^th.

Ross Frondorf was second on the team.  The senior ran a time of 27:50.37 to finish in 178^th.  The effort was his fastest 8K time since the 2014 MVC Championships.  Andrew Barrett was next up for UE, posting a time of 28:10.63.  It was a new PR for the sophomore, eclipsing his previous one by over a minute.

Stanley Chiepching also registered his best time in the 8K.  Chiepching came in 218^th with a 28:16.63.  His previous best time of 28:35.05 came in September at EIU.  Two spots behind him was fellow freshman Tucker Dawson.  Dawson has been improving all season long and continued that today with a 28:18.56.  It was 1:07 faster than his old PR from EIU.

Paul Schwartz ran the course in 28:36.18.  The run was a solid one for Schwartz and just one second off of his PR.  Another freshman – Aaron Cochran – set his top time.  A 28:40.87 was 15 seconds faster than his quickest time of his career at UE.  Ben Woolems ran his fastest time of the year.  A 28:59.81 was over two minutes quicker than any other 8K race in 2016 for the senior.  In his first 8K race with the Purple Aces, Kudzi Mandingwa finished in 32:01.23.

For the women, it was the duo of Sienna Crews and Hannah Welsh leading the way as the team took 17^th place out of 48 squads.  Crews crossed the line in 18^th place out of 406 runners.  She circled the 5K course in 18:39.33.  Welsh was just over a second behind Crews, taking 20^th place.  Welsh finished in 18:40.53.

Ashton Bosler was the #3 runner once again for UE.  The sophomore, who set a PR last week at Austin Peay, was just five seconds off of that pace today, running a 19:50.53.  She came home in 110^th place.  Next up was Kylie Hasenour, who ran her best 5K time at UE.  She finished the race in 20:05.89, eclipsing her previous PR by 22 seconds.

Michelle Karp posted her best 5K time of the season.  The junior registered a 20:19.38, finishing 167^th.  Senior Anna Loef also recorded her fastest time of 2016.  A 21:08.04 for Loef marked her fastest time since the 2014 MVC Championships.  Fellow senior Katie Beaber had her best collegiate time as she finished the race with a time of 21:29.90.  It bested her old PR, set as a freshman at the Fleet Foot Invitational.  Her old top time was a 21:45.9.

August Martinez completed the race with a 22:45.13 while Hayley Elliott ran a 23:08.65.  It was Elliott’s fastest time of the season.

Evansville will be off next weekend before returning home for the UE Invitational on October 15.  The races will be held at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course.

UE back home next weekend

PEORIA, Ill. – It was sophomore Mildrelis Rodriguez pacing the University of Evansville offense once again as the Purple Aces fell by a 3-0 final at Bradley on Saturday night.

Rodriguez recorded 11 kills while Rachel Tam had seven for UE (4-14, 0-5 MVC).  Joselyn Coronel and Olivia Goldstein notched 10 digs apiece while Jelena Merseli had 19 assists.  Jamie Livaudais and Kelsey Cave registered 11 kills apiece for the Braves (6-9, 1-3 MVC).

Evansville faced a deficit in the first game of the evening, but battled back every time.  After Bradley opened up a 5-1 lead, the Aces came back to tie it up at 10-10 as Rocio Fortuny notched a kill in the run.  The Braves used an 11-2 stretch to go up 21-12 and looked in good shape, but the tenacious UE team did not give up.

An 11-3 run brought the Aces back within one at 24-23.  Stellar serving by Rachel Tam was the difference as she had a pair of service aces in the rally.  Erica Haslag ended the run with the set-winning kill to give BU a 25-23 decision.

Bradley took control midway through the second set.  Up 12-7, the Braves extended the lead to nine at 20-11 before winning by a 25-15 final to take a 2-0 advantage.  In the third frame, Evansville kept it close, trailing by a 7-5 score before Bradley scored eight in a row before clinching the match with a 25-16 win.

Illinois State and Indiana State will make their way to the Carson Center next weekend to face the Purple Aces in MVC action.