By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin cross country teams returned to action to compete in the loaded field at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. Saturday and raced to several personal-records.
The Skyhawks competed against some of the nation’s top regional programs like Appalachian State, Eastern Illinois, ETSU, Lipscomb, Loyola-Chicago, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee, New Orleans, South Alabama, UNC-Greensboro, UTEP and Wisconsin in a highly competitive field.
The men raced to five PRs as they began the morning with the 8k Gold race as senior Luke McNair paced the Skyhawk pack once again with a time of 24:42.7 to finish 78th overall in a field of 353 individuals. His time shattered his previous personal-best mark by over 40 seconds and ranks as the ninth fastest time in program history.
Sophomore George Payne ranked as the Skyhawks second finisher, crossing the line with a time of 25:08.9 to also record a new PR by more than 23 seconds. Freshman Will Cahill finished third for the team at 25:22.9, shaving nearly 22 seconds off his 8k debut two weeks ago. Senior Will Oglesby (25:33.9) and sophomore Victor Kemboi (25:40.5) also set new PRs to round out the scoring-five.
As a team, the entire Skyhawk scoring-five recorded new PRs while finishing 26th overall with 657 points.
Second up was the women’s 5k Gold race which saw newcomer Lilia Alvarez pace the Skyhawks for the first time in her young career with a time of 18:54.8. Sophomore Erica Fisher finished second on the team at 19:05.1 while freshman Lydia Tankersley wasn’t too far behind at 19:08.0 for a new collegiate best.
Sophomore transfer Blayne Lachance ranked as the team’s fourth scorer with a time of 19:18.8 for a new PR while freshman Victoria Holliday crossed at 19:41.8 to wrap-up the scoring total for the Skyhawks.
The Skyhawk women would total 1150 points overall and finish 42nd.
UT Martin returns to action for its final tune-up prior to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship when traveling to the Bradley ‘Pink’ Classic on Friday, Oct. 15. The women’s race will begin at 3 p.m. with the men’s to follow at 3:45 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information