CROSS COUNTRY

The HU cross country program headed down to the Sunshine State to compete in Florida State’s Cross Country Invitational Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park.

The Forester men’s program finished an impressive tenth as a team, having competed against 31 teams representing various collegiate levels. HU’s total 8K time was 2:10:37.90, which averaged out to 26:07.58 per runner.

Kent Yoder headlined the morning for Huntington by claiming 8th out of 342 runners by clocking in at 24:59.2 with only NCAA Division I and II athletes finishing in front of him. Reece Gibson ran a solid race to take 46th in 25:44.3. Not far behind was Austin Liepe who navigated the course in 25:46.9 to finish 48th.

Next for HU was Carter VanderMeer in 107th in 26:35.8. Posting a time of 27:31.7 was Jonah Lemmon for 166th place. Isaac Combs turned in a time of 28:16.5 for 216th place.

Other runners for Neideck’s crew included Tyler Loucks (282nd, 30:01.9) and Gabriel King (310th, 31:59.5).

The University of Florida captured the men’s title with 39 points. The top ten also included Embry-Riddle (75), Florida Southern (82), Tampa (114), South Florida (178), Miami (213), LSU (215), Florida Gulf Coast (268), Auburn-Montgomery (278) and HU (278).

Running among a field of 35 teams across an array of collegiate divisions, the Foresters finished 18th overall with a team time of 1:39.54.70 for a per runner average of 19:58.94.

Emily Tedder ran a sub 19-minute 5K time of 18:53.9 to finish first for HU for 58th out of 335 runners. Molly Harding came in next in 19:24.5 good for 90th overall. Finishing 120th was Malarie Pinwar in 19:51.1.

Next to cross the line for the Foresters was MacKenzie Brewer in 20:25.0 for the 169th spot. Rounding out the scoring for Huntington was Amelia Strzechowski in 21:20.2 for 220nd place.

Other runners for HU included Shaylynn Reyes (233rd, 21:37.0) and Lily Spaulding (241st, 21:53.2), Morgann Hart (288th, 24:06.4) and Evelyn Sigler (301st, 25:36.5).

LSU won the women’s title with 27 points. The top ten also included Florida (42), Florida International (106), Tampa (110), Miami (170), Palm Beach Atlantic (222), Florida State (241), Florida Southern (259) and Nova Southeastern (294).

“Overall, we had a great trip down to Tallahassee, competing against many talented teams,” said Coach Josh Neideck. “Our athletes managed the heat and humidity well and had a decent day. We have a lot of work to do still but I am excited to have three weeks to better ourselves.”

Next up for the Foresters is the NAIA Appalachian Challenge on October 20 in Knoxville, Tenn.