RESULTS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At Saturday morning's Greater Louisville Classic, the Redbird men's and women's cross country teams set 11 new personal records with three season-best finishes and a pair of collegiate debuts en route to a women's 20th and a men's 22nd-place finish at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
Topping six USTFCCCA regionally ranked teams, the women's cross country team finished 21st overall in the 5k Gold Race, besting local foes, Illinois and Eastern Illinois. Sophomores Dakota Roman and Grace Beattie led the Redbirds with personal best times of 17:48.06 and 17:58.93, respectively. Lindsey Lewis topped her season best by 16 seconds, coming in at 18:14.41, while fellow senior Erica Brown crossed the line at 18:19.73. Kennidi Knoblock rounded out the top-five for ISU with a personal record, 18:35.68-finish.
Making her collegiate debut, Audrey Janik clocked in at 18:42.44 while senior Ashley England followed just behind, 10 seconds later. Annie Moore recorded yet another personal best for the Redbirds with a 19:03.75 finish while Sydney Billingsley chipped 11 seconds off her season best time to 19:07.37. Sarah Voss and Meagan Biddle clocked in with a career best 20:00.46 time and a collegiate debut in 20:56.41, respectively, while sophomore Phoebe Clowser rounded out the women's side.Â
Besting a pair of USTFCCCA regionally ranked opponents, the men's cross country squad placed 22nd overall in the 8k Gold Race. Kyle Mattes, a junior, took 38 seconds off his time for a season-best 24:29.58 finish – four seconds off of a career record. Cody Baele recorded a 32-second personal best finish, clocking in at 25:30.73. Freshman Scott Anderson and sophomore Kevin Koski finished back-to-back with a person-best time of 25:33.59 for Anderson. Thomas Thornton ran a personal-record 25:52.15-finish to complete the Redbirds' top-five.
Connor Ehnle and Kimathi Johnson added a pair of career-bests to the day's total with 25:58.23 and 26:02.01 respective finishes. Juniors J.D. LaFayette and Skyler Arthur fell just short of season-best numbers while freshman Jake Gillum managed a 31-second career improvement to 26:34.35. In his 8k debut, freshman Colton Bell clocked in narrowly behind his teammate at 26:35.27 with senior Wes Ward rounding out Saturday morning's squad.
The Redbirds resume action on Oct. 13 at the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Illinois.
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