CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford University men's and women's cross-country teams competed for the second time this season at the PowerAde Invitational on Friday, Sept. 9, at Moccasin Bend.
The Samford women finished fourth , and the Samford men finished fifth.
"It's one of those meets you're not really geared up toward," Samford cross-country coach
Pat McGregor said. "We want to do well, but not sacrifice training. Our best meets are yet to come."
Anna Long led the Bulldogs with an 11th-place finish in the women's 2-mile race. The junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., clocked a time of 11 minutes, 50.18 seconds.
Long was followed by a quartet of freshmen:
Lauren Granier,
Presley Weems,
Shian Mallory and
Sarah Fairchild.
Granier placed 23rd in 12:16.78; Weems placed 30th in 12:35.06; Mallory placed 33rd in 12:41.75; and Fairchild placed 45th 13:18.77.
Sophomore
Hannah Belcher rounded out Samford's finishers with a 50th-place tally in 13:40.88.
The Bulldog women totaled 127 points. Middle Tennessee State placed first with 15 points.
On the men's side, a pack of six Bulldogs crossed the 5K finish line in consecutive order.
Freshman
Dillon Dean and junior
Josh Salter paced the group with a pair of 31st and 32nd -place finishes. The tandem recorded times of 16:31.62 and 16:31.87, respectively.
They were followed directly by
Owen Bailey,
Brad Cheek,
Hunter Poole and
Mike Nicastro, who finished 33rd through 36th .
Freshman
Jonathan Helton wrapped up the men's finishers with a 43rd-place tally.
The Bulldog men totaled 120 points. Middle Tennessee State placed first with 19 points.
Due to his runners' current training load and the high temperature at race time, McGregor said he told his team to run tactically and treat it more like a workout.
"Our guys ran together, worked together as a team," McGregor said.
One of the reasons McGregor took his teams to the meet was to give them a chance to scout the course. On Oct. 29, Chattanooga will host the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships.
The first-year coach said he liked what he saw.
"It's a good course," McGregor said. "Conference will run very fast."
The Samford cross-country teams will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Chili Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.
