EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Evansville junior Samuel Lea (Worcester, United Kingdom/Worcester Sixth Form College) became the first Purple Aces men's runner since 2006 to earn All-Conference honors, finishing eighth in the 8k at the MVC Championships on Friday morning. James Cruse (Melbourne, Australia) also made history, finishing 21st for the top finish of all freshmen to earn Evansville's first-ever MVC Freshman of the Year award.
The sixth place finish by the men's team is the best finish by an Evansville men's squad since 2011, when the Aces finished sixth of nine teams. The Purple Aces women's team placed 10th, led by freshman Kyleigh Wolf (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North), who posted the 11th-best 6k time in program history at 22:23.2.
Lea landed 12th on the program's all-time 8k list with his time of 24:41.65 to pace the Aces. Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain/Colegio Claret) turned in a strong performance, finishing 17th overall and second on the team with a time of 25:06.32, followed by Cruse in 21st overall at 25:14.34. Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) also came in with a time under 26 minutes, placing 51st with a time of 25:55.37.
On the women's side, Wolf led the way, placing 41st and notching a personal best time. Avery Stephens (Newburgh, Ind./Castle) finished second for the Purple Aces, placing 50th and coming up one second short of a personal best. Josie Lynch (Brazil, Ind./Northview) and Veronica Wilgocki (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) posted personal-bests with times of 23:51.56 and 25:09.51, respectively.
The Aces cross country teams return to Angel Mounds on November 14 for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
| MVC Championships (October 31) |
| Women's 6K |
Men's 8K |
| 41 |
Kyleigh Wolf |
21:53.41 |
8 |
Samuel Lea |
24:41.65 |
| 50 |
Avery Stephens |
22:45.76 |
17 |
Rafael Rodriguez |
25:06.32 |
| 69 |
Josie Lynch |
23:51.56 |
21 |
James Cruse |
25:14.34 |
| 71 |
Lauren Bradley |
24:05.23 |
51 |
Woody Burrell |
25:55.37 |
| 79 |
Veronica Wilgocki |
25:09.51 |
60 |
Cedrik Flipo |
26:07.96 |
| 83 |
Rebekah Sachs |
25:42.88 |
74 |
Tanner Spence |
26:29.53 |
| DNF |
Chase Hayes |
|
84 |
Nathan Campbell |
27:24.01 |
| DNF |
Kyndall Anthis |
|
91 |
Oliver Wilgocki |
27:54.53 |
|
|
|
DNF |
Nathan Whitehead |
|
