Championship Central

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Times have improved throughout the year and the University of Evansville cross country teams hope for that trend to continue as the squads make the trip to Carbondale, Ill. for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
 
The SIU Cross Country Course will be the host for the event.  Starting the action will be the women's 5K race at 10:30 a.m. while the men run their 8K event at 11:30 a.m.
 
Bradley is the pre-race pick to win both championships.  In the pre-championship poll, the Braves received the majority of the votes for both championships.  On the men's side, Indiana State and Southern Illinois were tied for second with Illinois State chosen fourth.
 
SIU was picked to place second in the women's race with Illinois State, Wichita State and Loyola rounding out the top five.  Evansville was picked ninth in both races.
 
Led by a victory from the women, both squads had a strong meet last time out at the UE Invitational.  With 29 points, the Purple Aces women took top honors over Austin Peay, who tallied 53.  Lindenwood finished with 74.  Leading the way was Kirsten Perrey, who smashed her previous top time at UE.  Her 18:36.5 was good for third place out of 58 runners and topped her previous top time of 19:01.3 from last season.
 
Also recording a top five was Laurel Wolfe.  She finished with a 19:00.6.  Elizabeth Kingshott ran her top time of the season and best since 2012.  The junior came in sixth place with an 18:13.4.  Finishing in ninth place was Loren Oboikovitz, who continued to improve as a senior.  She posted a PR with a 19:41.6, beating her old mark by less than a second.
 
Next up was Alyssa Moran.  The senior finished in 13th with her time of 20:02.8.  Clinching a spot in the top 20 was Anna Loef, who was yet another UE runner to set a PR.  The sophomore ran a 20:24.5 on Saturday, topping her previous best of 20:58.91.
 
Plagued by injury, the men's team was led once again by senior Josh Genet.  He came in sixth place with a 26:20.0.  It was his top time of the season.  Sophomore Ben Woolems brought home a 15th place finish.  He ran a 27:15.9, which was three seconds better than his PR.  Ross Frondorf finished in 28th place with a 28:05.4.  He has run excellent in his last two races.
 
Jon Ashby finished in 41st out of the 53 participants with a 29;35.5 while Ben Johnson (30:35.8) and Isaiah Frey (31:01.6) rounded out the squad for UE.  Johnson's time was a PR.