By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second year in a row, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s cross country team equaled its best finish in program history at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship with a fourth place finish while boasting an All-OVC first team honoree as Luke McNair placed sixth. Meanwhile, the Skyhawk women finishing seventh as a team.
UT Martin raced through a soggy course on Saturday morning at Percy Warner Park in Nashville. The Skyhawk men posted a fourth-place finish with 93 points which tied for the team’s best finish in program history. On the women’s side, the team placed seventh with 165 points.
The men’s 8k race began the morning with a 9 a.m. start. McNair ran like a veteran throughout the race, sitting amongst the lead pack at every split. McNair ultimately placed sixth overall with a time of 25:14.1 to earn All-OVC first team honors to highlight an impressive campaign.
Ranking second on the team with another impressive morning was the performance of fellow senior Will Oglesby who placed 19th overall with a time of 25:52.6. From there, the Skyhawks’ next three scorers crossed the line in quick order with George Payne (26.00.4) finishing 21st, Will Cahill (26:07.2) two spots behind in 23rd and Sam Shuman (26:11.3) wrapping up the scoring-five in 26th.
With the women’s 5k race following, sophomore Erica Fisher just missed out on earning an All-OVC honor of her own by placing 15th with a time of 18:56.9. Finishing second for the Skyhawks was Annie Amundsen who placed 29th with a time of 19:28.8 in her OVC Championship debut.
Three other newcomers rounded out the scoring group for the women as Lilia Alvarez finished 34th at 19:36.6. Freshman Victoria Holliday came in 41st at 19:44.0 while Blayne Lachance wrapped up the scoring-five in 52nd at 20:13.2.
“The guys ran well by equaling our best conference finish,” UT Martin head coach Kevin Mangan said. “It was a very solid performance for them and we were really close to finishing in third. I think the bump up to 10k in two weeks will benefit them. The women battled very hard with two of their best out. This will be an exciting group to see keep getting better 1, 2, 3 years out from now, with us being a really young group. They ran tough and never quit on themselves. The future is really bright and I am really excited about where our program is.”
Both teams will continue their seasons at the NCAA South Region Championship in Huntsville, Ala. on Friday, Nov. 12. The women’s race will get underway at 8:30 a.m. with the men’s race to follow at 9:30 a.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information