The University of Evansville women’s cross country team defended its title at the Austin Peay Cross Country Festival, while the men captured second place, Saturday morning.
 The women were paced by junior Anna Lowry on a fast course, the Aces ran to a 26 point victory, with all scoring seven finishing in the top-12. On the male side, the top seven finishers ended up in the top-21, while finishing just seven points behind first place Bethel.
 Lowry rewrote the record books behind her 16:46.42 championship race, setting a new school, meet and personal record, as well as the fastest 5K in the MVC this season. Lowry finished the race almost a minute faster than the next runner from Bethel.
 “We had some great performances across the board,†head cross country coach Don Walters said. “They closed the gap and finished next to each other and worked off each other, especially the women. It was a great performance from top to bottom.â€
Haylee Harmeyer pushed her season best to a 18:13.48, fourth place finish, just ahead of Jenna Fahrenbacher who took fifth in 18:17.96.
Bones Parker earned seventh place on a 18:40.92 5K, while Sarah Poltrack took ninth place in 19:01.68.
Lauren Meyer and Izzy Dawson rounded out the Aces scoring seven with 11th and 12th place finishes respectively.
Stanley Chepchieng once again led the men’s team. His 5K race earned him third place overall on a 15:06.95 time. Ricky Hendrix finished just two seconds later in fourth place on a 15:06.53 time.
Dawson Hood finished next for UE, taking sixth place in 15:16.53. Phil Dzienciol (15:40.04) and Tyler Frields-Reifsteck (15:46.40) took 13th and 15th respectively, while Jackson McPeeters (16:00.21) took 18th.
Timmy Miller finishes up the Aces scoring lineup with a 21st place 16:13.82 time.
The Purple Aces will next head to the Fast Cats Classic in Owensboro, Ky., on Oct. 12.
