Evansville, IN - This past Friday, the Oakland City University Men's and Women's cross country team headed to Angel Mounds State Park, in Newburgh, Indiana, to compete at the University of Evansville Opener. The men's team finished the 8k in sixth place of the six teams against steep competition, with the top three finishing teams being The Ohio State University, Indiana State University, and Marquette University.
The men got off to a slow start that held them back throughout the race. The men finished in the following order: Junior Andrew Tarus (31:56), Freshman Ronald Kiprono (32:14), Senior Justin DeFur (32:45), Freshman Amos Koech (33:41) Senior Draven Huff (33:54), and Freshman Cooper Clark (34:51). Junior Dillon Riddell did not finish.
When Coach Sparks was asked how she felt about the race she said, "I'm expecting to see faster times as we move through the season. I have a couple of guys coming back from being sick, including, Junior Draven Huff, who is coming back after being out with Covid and I believe nerves got to some of the Freshman. Even with some slower times today, the team is in a better place than last year. They were able to bring their team average down by two and a half minutes and we've got some talented athletes that I expect to significantly improve though the next couple of meets.
The men will be competing again on September 17, at Taylor University.
