Women's 5-K Results (PDF)
Men's 8-K Results (PDF)
CHARLESTON,
Ill.—The University of Evansville cross country teams continued to find strength in numbers on Friday night, as both teams rode strong lead packs to third and fourth place team finishes at the Eastern Illinois Panther Open in Charleston, Illinois.
The UE women placed third as a group by packing its top seven runners within 38 seconds of one another en route to 96 points. The UE men, meanwhile, placed fourth out of nine teams, as Evansville’s top five runners finished within 45 seconds of each other in the men’s 8-K. Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois won both the men’s and women’s team titles.
“Overall, I was pleased with the way our lead runners were able to stay in a tight pack today,” said UE head coach Don Walters. “For the third meet in a row, our women were able to group together within 30 seconds of one another, and that is great. On the men’s side, we were able to tighten the pack today, and place our top five within 45 seconds. There’s still room for improvement, obviously, but, I am pleased with what I am seeing right now.”
Sophomore Melissa Truex set the pace for the UE women, placing 15th out of 70 competitors in a 5-K time of 19:35.63. Senior Franny Enzler ran second for UE, placing 20th in a time of 19:50.19, while junior Courtney Heller (22nd-19:53.41), freshman Lauren Schaftlein (26th-20:03.73), and senior Megan Bowlds (28th-20:05.57) rounded out UE’s scoring pack.
On the men’s side, sophomore Ryan Witters paced the Purple Aces by crossing the line in 20th place with an 8-K time of 26:31.71. Redshirt sophomore Nicholas Tyree came across the line 16 seconds later at 26:47.74 to place 22nd overall, while junior Greg Pulscher was not far behind in 26th place with a time of 27:01.56. Junior Brian Joyce (31st-27:07.89) and sophomore Brian Denny (36th-27:17.54) rounded out UE’s top five.
Evansville will return to the course next Saturday, as the Purple Aces will head south to Huntsville, Alabama to take part in the Earl Jacoby Memorial.
