HANOVER, In.---The Eagle cross country teams headed north this weekend to Hanover College, enjoying some fine results. Both the men and women Asbury runners managed third place team finishes among the eight scoring teams. Several other colleges and universities competed but failed to tally a team score.
Super senior and NCCAA All-American
Wes Preston took his usual position at the front of the Asbury pack, coming in 5
th out of the 73 collegiate runners. His time of 20:42 was just shy of the school record he set two weeks ago for the 6K distance. Not far behind was freshman
Landon Driggers, crossing the finish line 11
th among the college athletes and earning the award presented to the top-15 individual finishers.
Tyler Chong was next in for the Eagles, closely followed by
Josh Rittgers and
Luke Holton in scoring positions.
Franklin College won the men's competition with 40 points, ahead of Hanover with 60 and the Eagles with 78 points (low score wins in cross country). They were followed in the standings by Thomas More, Webster, Oakland City, Earlham, and Boyce.
Junior
Ava Miller led the charge for the Lady Eagles in the 5K race, joined by senior
Sarah Yost as the posted back-to-back finishes in 13
th and 14
th place to be among the individual award recipients. Next in for the team was freshman
Sophie Boehmler who ran her very first race as an Eagle. Also scoring were
Lily Anne Rinehart and
Lucy Kate Gibson.
Thomas More squeaked out a narrow 30-32 victory over their Hanover host in the women's race. The Eagles were a distant third with 81 points, holding off Franklin, Spaulding, Webster and Oakland City.
The runners will race again next Friday, September 20 at 6:00 in the Midway Invitational at Falling Springs Recreational Center in Versailles, KY.
"I was really pleased with our race today" said Coach Randy Crist. "The circumstances this fall are such that we'll be juggling our lineup a lot, so it's good to see that we can be competitive with whoever toes the starting line for us. Tyler Chong and Sarah Yost stepped up big today, having a huge impact on our scores. Both of them are in their last semester at Asbury and in shape to go out with a great final season."
Head Cross Country Coach | Randy Crist
"All week in practice we worked on mental toughness. You have to be mentally strong. You have to push yourself to run fast. In practice and races It's more than just going for a run. You're going to compete with purpose and beat beat your opponents. That really showed on Saturday."
Graduate Student | MBA | Wes Preston
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