Both the men’s and the women’s cross-country teams placed 15th of 18 teams at the John McNichols Invitational on the Leslie Gordon Championship Cross Country Course. The men’s team averaged a time of 26:31.0 for 8K while the women’s team averaged a time of 19:45.0 for the 5K. Sonja Inzinger paced all Purple Aces runners finishing 36th with a time of 18:28.7. On the men’s side, Samuel Lea was top of the pack for the second meet in a row with a time of 25:54.9 and a 75th place finish.
“Today’s meet was our first 5K and 8K for the newcomers and I believe we learned a lot today,” said Head Coach Brooks LeCompte. “We had a conservative start to training but now we are deep into it and it showed as our athletes raced on tired legs. We still had some solid performances and we know that the season is only just beginning.
“I’ve learned as a coach that we don’t want to start too hot so the team doesn’t run out of fuel by the end of the season. We’re excited to have our first 5K and 8K meet finished and we’re ready to keep training and see the full squad competing for the first time at Louisville in two weeks!”
Evansville had nine men’s runners finish the 8K course in Terre Haute with seven placing in the top 125. Returners Adam Oulgout and Joey Taylor each improved their times on the Leslie Gordon Championship Course from 2022 by over 20 seconds. Oulgout placed 92nd with a time of 26:28.7 compared to his MVC time in 2022 of 26:56.7 while Taylor finished with a time of 28:26.2 compared to 28:52.0. Also placing for UE on the men’s side were Rafael Rodriguez at 78th, Alvaro Monfort at 101st, Woody Burrell at 113th, Tommaso Losma at 116th and Owen Culpin at 121st.
On the women’s side, the Aces had all six runners place ranging from Inzinger at 36th to Stephenson at 104th. Freshman Nayla Martin placed 74th with a time of 19:11.3 while graduate transfer Sarah Vanderhoof-Dossett placed 86th with a time of 19:54.3. Kyndall Anthis finished 101st with a time of 20:37.4. Shelby Bastin finished 102nd with a time of 20:38.1 and rounding out the women’s side was Avery Stephenson in 104th place with a time of 20:53.4.
UE cross-country returns to action in two weeks at one of the largest cross-country meets in the country. Evansville will run in the Live in Lou Classic hosted by Louisville on Saturday, Sept. 30.
