Owensboro, KY - The men and women of Oakland City University Cross Country traveled one hour to compete in the Brescia Opener at Yellow Creek Park in Owensboro, Kentucky, on Friday, to open the 2024 season.
The temperature at the start of the women's race was a blistering 89 degrees with an elevated heat index. This didn't stop them from going out and competing well.
Jolea Kennedy led the women in 8
th (27:59.1). The trio of Freshman took the next three spots with
Berlyn Ingle in 9
th (28:28.25),
Olivia Seaton in 10
th (28:35.0), and
Sydnee Sullivan in 11
th (30:15.15).
Chloe O'Neal rounded out the women in 15
th of out the 16 runner field (36:39.44)
The men didn't have much of an upper hand either, starting the race 45 minutes later in a sheer 86 degrees. Freshman
Logan Smith led the way in a time of 17:43.31 (2nd). This was the fastest 5k to start the season in OCU history. He was followed closely by Freshman
Emerick Randolph in 17:53.46 (5th). Not far after was
Pierce Lashley in 18:04.81 (8th). Rounding out the group was
Eli Mayes in 18:26.52 (10th),
Ammon Morgan in 18:26.52 (11th),
Landon Marshall in 20:11.22 (15th),
Ronald Kiprono in 20:34.89 (17th), and
Cole Jones in 20:57.56 (18th) in the field of 20.
"I'm beyond pleased with the efforts out of both groups today," stated OCU Cross Country Head Coach
Blake Guillozet. "The momentum of the program is noticeable and promising. This is a completely different program compared to last year. Logan ran a very impressive race, only 19 seconds off the leader. The freshmen men and women proved that they are ready to run at this level. This is the start to something special."
The Oakland City Cross Country teams will return to action on September 14
th at Hanover University. Women's 5k at 10am est followed by the Men's 6k at 10:45am est.
