The UTM cross country teams competed against some of the nation’s top programs on Friday morning at the FSU Winter XC Classic hosted by Florida State at Apalachee Regional Park.
The Skyhawk men which entered the loaded field ranked 11th in the South Region and competed in the Garnet Men’s 8k race against Stanford, Iowa State, Colorado, Utah State, Wake Forest, Duke, Florida State, Syracuse, Southern Utah, CBU, Tennessee, Connecticut, North Florida, Eastern Kentucky, Kansas, South Dakota State, Liberty, Charleston Southern and Florida. Included in that group were 10 teams which ranked in the top-five while all but one ranked in top-15 in their respective region.
UTM finished 18th as a team, two spots ahead of SEC foe Florida which entered the meet ranked three spots higher than the Skyhawks in the South Region rankings. Senior Ryan Ford paced the Skyhawks for the second straight meet by finishing 16th with an 8k time of 23:54.6, besting his previous PR by 22 seconds and marking the third-fastest time in program history.
Senior Oisin O’Gailin ranked second on the team with a time of 25:06.5 to finish 87th. Junior Luke McNair crossed at 25:56.7 followed by seniors John Green (25:59.6) and Lenny Baumann (26:32.9).
The Skyhawk women competed in the Gold Women’s 6k field against Colorado, North Florida, Youngstown State, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Nicholls State and Tennessee Tech. UTM finished seventh in the field.
Sophomore Erica Fisher paced the Skyhawks for the second straight meet with a time of 23:20.0 to finish 34th overall. Sophomore Taylor Roy posted a top-50 finish of her own, crossing 46th with a time of 23:46.3 while freshman Annie Amundsen finished at 24:21.8. Sophomore Breanna Roy (24:44.1) and freshman Jill Plotner (25:08.6) wrapped up the scoring-five for the Skyhawks.
“Both teams had solid days, but we were a bit disappointed as we know we can be better,” UTM head coach Kevin Mangan said. “Ryan really took care of business for us up front and moved up really well throughout the last 6k. We will get back and get some quality training in. Everyone is looking forward to another chance to prove ourselves in two weeks and then ultimately March 1 at the OVC Championship.”
UTM will return to action on Friday, Feb. 19 at the Golden Eagle Invitational in Cookeville, Tennessee. in the team’s final primer before the OVC Cross Country Championship scheduled for Monday, March 1.
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