By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – In a sneak peak of the Ohio Valley Conference Championship host course later in the season, the University of Tennessee at Martin cross country program showed their postseason potential as the men’s squad posted a team victory at the Golden Eagle Invitational while the women’s team came in third.
The Skyhawks joined the Golden Eagle Invitational field to get an early look at the Putnam County Sports Complex course which will host the OVC Championships in late October. Not only did UT Martin get an early scouting report of the course but came away with a team title and a promising finish for both teams.
In a field which included host Tennessee Tech, Murray State and OVC foe Tennessee State, the Skyhawk men posted a convincing victory in the 8k field with a 10-point scoring margin while a young women’s squad finished third in the 6k.
UT Martin’s women took the stage first this afternoon and ultimately finished third in the field with 85 points and an average time of 25:07. Junior standout Lilia Alvarez led the way for UT Martin with a sixth-place finish after posting a time of 24:04.2.
Sophomore Lydia Tankersley ranked as the second scorer for the Skyhawks with a 13th place finish while crossing the line at 24:45.5. Fellow classmate Rita Eimer also posted a top-20 time with a mark of 25:03.8 to come in 18th. The aforementioned trio was joined in the scoring five by sophomore Cierra Nord with a time of 25:07.6 in her first collegiate 6k while freshman Maggie Roy came in 31st at 26:32.6.
UT Martin’s men then took to the starting line in the 8k event and raced to its first team title of the season behind a well-rounded effort with an average time of 2:10:59 and 33 points. Sophomore Will Cahill paced the squad for the second time this season en route to claiming an individual title after finishing over three seconds faster than the rest of the field with a final time of 25:42.0.
Not far behind was graduate Luke McNair who was narrowly edged for the runner-up spot by six-tenths of a second while finishing third overall with a time of 25:45.9. Senior Cole Davis came in eighth for the Skyhawks with a time of 26:28.1 while the tandem of freshman Luke Johnson (26:28.3) and senior George Payne (26:34.6) rounded out the scoring-five with back-to-back finishes at 10th and 11th, respectively.
UT Martin will return to competition in two weeks at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information