Midway, KY - The men of Oakland City University Cross Country opened their season at Midway University this past Saturday, running on the same course that will host the River States Conference meet on November fourth. Both the men's and women's squads had a very strong performance on what seems to be the one of the most difficult courses of the year.
Freshman
Pierce Lashley, from Heritage Hills High School, led the men's side for the 8k distance in a time of 29:40, good for 46th place individually in the field of 88. He was followed by
Merdi Ilonga in 29:48 (49th),
Landon Marshall in 31:39 (67th),
Ronald Kiprono in 34:00 (75th), and Cole Jones in 34:12 (76th). They placed eighth out of nine teams.
"I'm very pleased with how both groups handled today. You can tell that their training is starting to pay off. The men had a good team performance.
Pierce Lashley ran his first 8k and already broke the 30-minute mark. Landon set a 1min 57sec PR in the first meet of the season. Things are going in the right direction," mentioned head coach Blake Guillozet, in his first season as the OCU men's and women's cross country coach.
Both teams will return to action at the Live in Lou Classic at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, KY on September 30th. The men's race is set to begin at 11:00 am CST with the women following at 11:45 am CST.
