Final Results (M/W)

NORMAL, Ill.—University of Evansville graduate student Anna Lowry (Taylorville, Ill./Taylorville) and sophomore Peter Epur (Eldoret, Kenya) paced the Purple Aces' cross country teams on Friday, as UE competed in a water-logged Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Weibring Golf Course in Normal, Illinois.

"Today was a tough meet, as the race conditions were very difficult," said UE cross country head coach Don Walters.  "The rain all week made the course very soft, and in spots, it was hard to walk, let alone run, let alone run competitively.

"I thought both teams really battled through today."

Lowry led the way on the women's side for UE by posting the third-fastest 6-K time in school history with a mark of 22:00.1 to place 18^th overall.  It marked the second-consecutive race in which Lowry posted the third-fastest 6-K time in UE history, as she now owns the second, third and fourth-fastest 6-K times in school history.

"I thought Anna actually ran a really good race today," said Walters.  "The Valley on the women's side is really tough this year, and she competed really well and was able to post one of the best times in school history in the 6-K.  That's saying something."

Senior Sam Weldon (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) ran second for UE for the fourth-straight race, posting a 6-K time of 24:31.7 to place 63^rd in the Valley.  Freshman Ellie Stewart (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) ran third for UE in her first Valley Championship, with a time of 25:35.9.   Senior Emma Boebinger (Frankfort, Ky./Western Hills) finished just seconds off of her personal-best 6-K time with a mark of 25:44.5 to run fourth for the Aces, and sophomore Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) rounded out UE's scoring pack with a time of 28:33.8.

On the men's side, Epur was the first Purple Ace to cross the finish line in the men's 8-K race with a time of 27:19.1 to place 57^th overall.  Freshman Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn./Central) continued his strong rookie campaign by running second on the team for the fifth-straight race with a time of 28:51.0.  Senior Carson Kline (Terre Haute, Ind./South) was just seconds behind Oulgout to cut over a minute off of his best 8-K season time with a mark of 28:59.8.  It marked Kline's best race at UE since his sophomore year.

Graduate student J.J. Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Justin Nichols (Lewis Center, Ohio) rounded out UE's scoring pack with times of 29:08.7 and 29.28.5 respectively.  Sophomore Luke Watts (Austin, Ind./Austin) also had his best race as a Purple Ace, cutting over a full minute off of his person-best 8-K time with a mark of 31:45.3.

"I really have to give credit to Carson and Luke," said Walters.  "They both ran outstanding races, and to cut a full minute off of your best time of the year today is pretty impressive."

Evansville will take this next week off before hosting the biggest meet in program history, as UE will serve as the host for the 2021 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship meet at the Angel Mounds Cross Country Course.  It is the first time in which the Division I regional championship races have been run in Evansville.