Women's 5-K Results
Men's 8-K Results

SEWANEE, Tenn.—University of Evansville juniors Greg Pulscher (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and Arrena Svoboda (Katy, Texas/Cinco Ranch) paced the Purple Aces’ cross country teams on Saturday to fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively, at the 28th annual Sewanee Invitational in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Pulscher posted his second-straight 11th-place individual finish to lead the UE men to a fourth-place team finish in the 16-team field, with an 8,000-meter time of 26:41.27.  Svoboda, meanwhile, paced a tight pack of UE female runners in the top 30 with an 18th-place finish in a 5,000-meter time of 19:52.73.  Southeastern Conference running power Mississippi State won both the men’s and women’s team titles in a race contested in heavy fog.

“Overall, I was pleased with how both teams ran, considering it was the first full-distance race of the year,” said UE cross country coach Don Walters.  “I was really pleased with how close our pack was on the women’s side, as we had our top five runners all come in within around 35 seconds of one another.  If we can continue to get our lead runners to finish as a tight pack, we will be able to score out well this season.

“On the men’s side, we had three runners place in the top 25, which is great.  I thought that Greg really ran a great race, considering the conditions and the altitude.  Brian Joyce and Ryan Witters also turned in strong races today for the men.”

Joyce and Witters placed 20th and 21st overall in the 173-competitor field by clocking in with times of 27:07.36 and 27.09.18 respectively.  Sophomore Brian Denny (33rd-27:46.30) and junior Ethan Merkel (41st-28:02.32) rounded out Evansville’s scoring pack on the men’s side.  Mississippi State’s Robert Scribner won the men’s 8-K race in a time of 25:40.20 to pace the Bulldogs to the team title.

On the women’s side, junior Courtney Heller (21st-20:00.34), senior Franny Enzler (23rd-20:01.53), sophomore Melissa Truex (26th-20:15.44) and senior Megan Bowlds (30th-20:28.84) joined Svoboda in the top 30, as UE finished fifth in the 16-team field.  Tennessee Tech’s Stephanie Place took home the individual women’s title in a time of 17:55.05, while Mississippi State placed five runners in the top 11 to win the team title.

Evansville will have a short week this week, as the Purple Aces will return to the course on Friday night at 5:30 p.m., as UE will take part in the Eastern Illinois Panther Open in Charleston, Illinois.