TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - In its second meet of the season, the University of Evansville men's and women's cross country teams competed at the John McNichols Invite, hosted by Indiana State, at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Both Evansville's men's and women's teams earned 11th-place finishes. Purdue captured both the men's and women's team championships in the men's 8k and women's 5k.
On the women's side, the meet marked the return to competition for Anna Lowry in her fifth season of running for the Aces after not competing in the Evansville Opener two weeks ago. Lowry finished 21st in the 5k, crossing the line in a time of 18:42. Helping the Aces to the 11th place finish in the 14-team field was Sam Weldon, who followed-up her team-leading performance two weeks ago, finishing in 74th with a time of 20:43.
Improving three seconds on her time from the opening meet, Tess Crosley finished inside the top 100 runners with a time of 21:24, joined by Ellie Stewart in 94th, crossing the finish in 21:48. Two more Aces narrowly missed the top 100 with freshman Kaitlyn Sansone (101st, 22:18.5) and senior Emma Boebinger (103rd, 22:26.6) each finishing under 22:30.
Wrapping-up the Evansville contingent in the 5k were Emma Denbo, who finished in a time of 24:18 in 119th and Kylee Peck, who finished 131st in a time of 26:18.1.
For the second time in the early portion of this season, senior Peter Ekayi Epur led the way for the Aces men's team, capturing a 61st-place finish and finishing just eight seconds off of his time in the Evansville Opener with a 27:21. Continuing his impressive start to the season, freshman Adam Oulgout finished just 12 spots behind Epur in 73rd, crossing the line with a time of 27:50.9.
Graduate J.J. Pedersen was just three seconds off of Oulgout, finishing with a time of 27:53.9, coming home in 75th. Another freshman finished fourth among Aces runners as Justin Nichols crossed the line in 126th with a time of 30:46.4. Finishing in a group with Nichols was Carson Kline with a time of 30:51.4.
Rounding-out Evansville's men were a pair of underclassmen in freshman Jacob Moffat in 138th with a time of 32:16.7 and sophomore Luke Watts, earning a 147th-place finish in 34:14.7.
Evansville takes another weekend off from competition before returning to the course at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic in Louisville, Ky. on October 2.
