Vincennes Cross Country places second at Evansville Invitational
NEWBURGH, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams closed out their 2021 regular seasons at the University of Evansville Invitational at Angel Mounds in Newburgh Saturday morning. The Trailblazer Men’s team came away with a second-place finish and three Top-15 finishes, while the VU Women’s team was again unable to post a team score for the second event in a row, but did manage to come away with one Top-15 finisher as an individual. “The women’s team wasn’t able to finish as a team, but we are hoping to be able to by the Region Meet in two weeks,” VU Assistant Cross Country coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It was a different experience for the women, as they ran a 6k, which none of them have done before.”
NEWBURGH, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams closed out their 2021 regular seasons at the University of Evansville Invitational at Angel Mounds in Newburgh Saturday morning.
The Trailblazer Men's team came away with a second-place finish and three Top-15 finishes, while the VU Women's team was again unable to post a team score for the second event in a row, but did manage to come away with one Top-15 finisher as an individual.
"The women's team wasn't able to finish as a team, but we are hoping to be able to by the Region Meet in two weeks," VU Assistant Cross Country coach Tyler Steigenga said. "It was a different experience for the women, as they ran a 6k, which none of them have done before."
The Trailblazer women's team was led by sophomore Kyra Young, who led VU with a time of 24:28.7 and came away with a 12th-place finish.
Freshmen Brittany Page and Hope Laughlin were slated in the Top-25 finishers with Page ending at 21st, with a time of 26:41.9 and Laughlin ending at 25th and 28:29.5.
Sophomore Kyra Davis rounded out the VU runners, ending with a time of 32:24.3, good for a 28th-place finish.
"Kyra Young led the way with a solid race, running faster through 5K then she did at Louisville two weeks ago," Steigenga added. "All the women did a great job of fighting through the extra 1k they are not normally used to racing."
The Vincennes men's team was led by sophomore Manamanya Opiew, who ended with a ninth-place finish and a time of 27:26.0.
Freshmen Reed Lawless and Ernest Momodu also placed in the Top-15, with Lawless finishing 12th, with a time of 27:55.6 and Momodu ending at 13th at 28:00.8.
The VU scorers were rounded out by sophomore Ian Boit and freshman Trey Browne. The duo finished 16th and 17th respectively, with Boit posting a time of 28:33.8 and Browne coming in at 28:37.9.
Vincennes also sent runners Walter Tanui, Tate Hall, Austin Nigh, Ethan Goebel, Kyle Baugh and Austin Fadina, who finished outside of the scoring for the Trailblazers.
Vincennes as a team finished in second, behind only Purdue-Fort Wayne and ahead of NCAA Division I teams Morehead State and University of Evansville.
"It was a good day on the men's side, with four of the top seven setting new personal bests," Steigenga said. "Manamanya and Reed each set personal bests, leading the way with great finishing speed. They ran the last mile in 5:11 and 5:12 respectively."
"Trey Browne finished the race by setting a new personal best by 55 seconds and Tate Hall PRed by over a minute."
The VU Cross Country teams must now get prepared for their postseason run, beginning Thursday, Oct. 28 with the NJCAA Cross Country Regional Meet at Tom Woodall Panther Trail in Charleston, Ill. First race of the day is set to begin at 4 p.m. eastern.
"Overall, it was a good meet for the team, especially during their hardest training block of the year," Steigenga added. "The men displayed their best depth of the year and the women ran a solid first 6K."
"We have two more weeks of tough training before we start the Championship portion of the season at the Regional Meet."