Men's Results   -   Women's Results

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Senior Kelby Jenkins and Josh Genet were the top runners for their respective squads as the University of Evansville cross country squad raced in the Walt Crawford Open, which was hosted by Eastern Illinois on Friday afternoon.
 
Jenkins came in second place in the 5K women's event, falling just short of Sadie Darnell (SIU) by two seconds.  Genet took ninth place on the men's side in a race that featured 123 runners.  On the women's side, 138 runners participated in the event.  Each team finished in fourth place as the men earned their rank out of 12 squads while the women's race featured 13 teams.
 
"I was pleased with both teams today.  The times for everyone were a little slower than they have been in the past as the heat had an impact once again," Aces head coach Don Walters explained.  "Kelby ran in the top pack in her race, but she just fell too far behind in the end.  She is disappointed in the result, but she knows what she has to do in future races to win."
 
"Both teams took fourth place and at the end of the day, that is a good run for us," Walters said.  "We will work hard at practice next week and be ready to roll in Alabama next weekend."
 
The men got the action started at 4:45 p.m. with Genet leading the way for Evansville with a 26:05.43 to finish in ninth place.  Jon Ashby was the next UE runner to cross the stripe as his time of 26:50.31 was good for 21^st overall.  Freshman Ben Woolems took 43^rd while posting a 27:43.37 in his first 8K collegiate race and was followed by Andrew Barrett and Ross Frondorf.  That duo finished in 53^rd and 54^th with times of 28:07.89 and 28:09.89, respectively.
 
Mike Hesslau of Eastern Illinois was the top finisher, taking the win by five seconds over teammate Pablo Ramirez.  Hesslau's winning time was 25:35.49.  The Panthers posted four of the top seven finishers en route to the team victory.  Their total of 27 points bested SIU Edwardsville's final of 59.  The Illinois Track Club was third with a 94 and Evansville followed with a 130. 
 
In the 5K, Jenkins took second place with a time of 17:39.95.  That time continued to cement her place in the Aces record books.  Not only was it the second-best time of her career (17:38 was her PR), but it was the fourth-best time in school history in the women's 5K.  Andrea Sonnenschein holds the record-low time of 17:30 while her and Jenkins are tied for second with a 17:38.
 
Continuing her success as one of the Aces top runners was Maria Lynn, who took 23^rd after running a 19:16.77.  It was the best time of her career, topping her previous mark of 19:19, which was set at the MVC Championship last season.  Kirsten Perrey ran the best time of her career as her time of 19:32.13 gave her 30^th place.  She smashed her old PR of 19:51 from her freshman season.
 
Nicole Kreuzman finished just behind her in 31^st with a 19:32.80 while Laurel Wolfe came in 35^th, running a 19:39.94.  She was followed by Jacqueline Carlson (20:00.27) and Alyssa Moran (20:10.08). 
 
Darnell took top honors for the women as her time of 17:37.52 was tops.  She led a group of SIU runners, who racked up six out of the top eight spots to take the team win, finishing with 22 points.  Eastern Illinois took second with 57 while Murray State came in third with a 92 and Evansville took fourth with 107 points.  The top five for UE performed extremely well, as their times outran the Racers' top five in the race.
 
Next up for the Aces is a trip to Huntsville, Ala. for the Fleet Foot Invitational.  The race is set for next Saturday, Sept. 14.