Evansville, IN - The Oakland City University cross country teams ran in the 2022 University of Evansville Invitational, hosted at Angel Mounds State Park, on Saturday. Six runners set new personal best times, while five others ran their best times of the year.
On the women's side, Evie Hasenour ran a 20:36.5 in the 5k event, her personal best, finishing in ninth place overall to pace the Oaks in the 47 runner event.
Raegan Heldt finished second for the Oaks, 15th overall, in 21:16.4, her season best time.
Halley Powers also had her best time of the year, running a 21:59.1, good for 24th, while Ellie Hasenour, coming in at 23:05.2, a new personal best, and
Pamela Barbosa, who crossed the line in 23:06.8, a season best, finished in 29th and 30th.
Chloe O'Neal also had a personal best time, finishing in 25:03.7, in 38th position, followed closely by
Jolea Kennedy's 25:05.6, one position later.
Summer Moore crossed in a season best 27:07.5, finishing 45th, while
Niewa Brown set a new personal best with a 30:47.7.
As a team, the OCU women finished in fourth place out of seven teams. Their score of 102 was better than the host NCAA Division 1 Purple Aces of the University of Evansville, who finished with 121. Trinity Christian had 133, while Central State came in with 158. The University of Southern Indiana won the race with a total score of 36, followed by Austin Peay State's 58, and Bethel University (IN) who finished with 79.
For the men's team, Merdi Llonga led the way for the Oaks, who didn't enter a full team, finishing with a personal best 29:10.4 in the 8k event, good for 36th place out of 59 runners.
Draven Huff ran a 31:19.5, his season best, coming in 46th place, while
Landon Marshall's 33:36.5 was a new personal best time, placing 57th.
USI won the race as a team on the men's side as well, finishing with 27, followed by Bethel's 70. Trinity Christian finished with 86, while Austin Peay (97), Evansville (109), and Central State (133) rounded out the team finishers.
Both Oakland City University cross country teams will be back on the course on Saturday, October 22, when they travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to compete in the NAIA Great Lakes Invitational event.
