Rachel Essner
Contributing Writer
Two weeks after the Belmont Opener, the Racer cross country team hosted the Murray State Open on Friday, Feb. 5, at the Miller Memorial Golf Course. This meet was the second of three regular season meets for the Racers.
The women’s team faced six other teams while the men’s team faced five. Both teams competed against Morehead State, SIUE, University of North Alabama, Campbellsville University and University of Evansville for both teams, while the women’s team also ran against Jacksonville State.
Coming in second place overall with a total of 60 points, the women’s team was led by junior Dani Wright, at 19:30.6 in third place. Following Wright was junior Emma Creviston with a time of 19:36.8 in sixth place.
“Dani and Emma worked really well together the whole race all the way down to the very end,” said Coach Jordan Wallace.
Taking the third and fourth spots for the Racers were sophomores Kristen Dent in 13th (20:13.4) and Jessica Stein in 16th (20:21.4). Rounding up the top five was senior Ashley Zimmerman in 31st with a time of 21:20.2.
“The women are starting to put it all together and they are looking very strong,” Wallace said. “The men are a little bit beat up so it was not as strong of a performance as I would have liked, but there is definitely a lot of improvement from the Belmont meet to this meet.”
In the men’s 8k, senior Caleb Kawasaki led the Racers with a time of 27:27.7 in 18th place. Trailing behind Kawasaki was sophomore Ben Hall in 21st place at 27:49.0.
Coming in 26th overall in his debut for the Racers was Jorge Ruiz, finishing at 28:00.3. Fourth for the Racers was sophomore Ryan Dent, who crossed the finish line at 28:02.0 in 29th place, followed by freshman Nathan Quinn, who placed 31st and clocked in at 28:05.8.
“We were smarter in our racing strategy,” Wallace said. “We didn’t go out crazy fast, so I think they executed that strategy better. Overall, they were mentally tougher going into the race, which I think is a huge improvement.”
The Racers will compete next on Friday, Feb. 19, at the Tennessee Tech Open in Cookeville, Tennessee.
