The Murray State men’s and women’s cross-country teams both cracked the top 20 Oct. 3 at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

The men placed 19th out of 23 teams in the Gold 5 Mile race, while the women finished 18th out of 27 teams in the Gold 5k.

Sophomore Alicyn Hester paced the Racers, finishing  61st with a new personal best 17:57, which was more than a minute behind the winner. Meagan Smith also improved on her previous personal best with 18:07 – good enough for 81st of the 216 runners.

Grand Valley State swept the men and women’s races. Each of their top five runners placed among the first 25 finishers in the respective races.

For Murray State, Gavin Galanes, Cole Cisneros, Mark Ventura and Lucas Prather finished in the top 150 on their way to 19th place.

Head Coach Jenny Severns said she saw improvement.

  “Slowly and surely the guys are getting better. They keep moving up and that’s all you can ask for,” she said.

Three women competed in the JV 5K. Elizabeth Lay led the team by finishing in 20:12.8, followed closely by Jacquelyn Thate and Heatherly Paschall.

The Racers will travel to Peroria, Ill., Oct. 17 to compete in the Bradley Classic.

Staff report