LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Southeast Missouri cross country competed in the 21st Annual Live in Lou Cross Country Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park Saturday morning.
The men's and women's teams competed in the Gold Division during Saturday's competition with the men placing 31st in the 8K race with 849 total points. On the women's side, SEMO placed 35th accumulating 902 points in the 5K Gold race.
The men's field included 308 total athletes from 31 schools. The women's 5K followed and featured 378 runners and 41 schools.
Noah Little paced the way for the Redhawk men placing 141st with a time of 25:08.3 in the 8K competition. The finishing result earned Little his second-straight personal-best following his McKendree Bearcat Classic result (25:47.5) in the same distance.
Freshman
Connor Ayres finished 180th and second in the Redhawks' pack. The Springfield, Missouri, native, turned in a time of 25:31.3, which shattered his previous personal-best set last time out on Sept. 23 by 17 seconds.
Justin Splitt and
Terrico Garrett finished 219th and 221st, respectively, with times of 25:51.8 and 25:52.7. For Splitt, the finish set a new personal-best for the men's 8K competition in his career at SEMO.
Clayton Eftink (26:02.5),
Aaron Modrow (26:13.9),
Garrett Dumke (26:33.6),
Jacob Blassingame (26:56.0) and
Nick Cimmarusti (27:20.8) placed 234th, 249th, 267th, 282nd, and 291st, respectively, to round out the men's side of the competition.
Eftink's finish of 26:02.5 sets a new personal-best for the Cape Girardeau, Missouri, native, in the men's 8K competition.
For the women, it was the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Runner of the Week
Hannah Eastman who paced the Redhawks in the 5K event. Eastman crossed the line in 18:14.9 for 120th, and her second-straight personal-best time in the 5K by nearly 31 seconds.
This was the second-straight week for the senior from Belleville, Illinois to set the pace for the Redhawks in team competition.
Taylor Fox finished second for the Redhawks with an 18:28.1 finish for 156th overall. Fox broke her personal best from last week's competition (18:56.0) to give her back-to-back PRs.
This is the second time in 2022 that the Redhawks women have finished with Eastman and Fox leading the charge.
Katie Wegmann and
Madelyn Gray went third and fourth within the Redhawks team, finishing in times of 18:45.4 and 18:47.9 for 199th and 204th, respectively.
For both runners, the final times set new personal bests in the 5K race.
Freshmen
Layla Fliege and
Lexie Dockstader finished in 310th and 313th, respectively, en route to earning new personal bests for the 5K. Fliege crossed the line in 19:33.0 which surpassed her previous time of 20:16.3 set on Sept. 23. Dockstader completed the race in 19:35.5 to garner a new PR for the event.
Haley Smith (20:07.3, 346th),
Mackenzie Pugh (20:11.4, 351st),
Kayla Vogelsang (20:17.5, 355th), and
Sarah Russom (20:24.3, 358th) also competed for the Redhawks.
For Vogelsang and Russom, both runners set new personal bests in the 5K event.
Tanner Chada of Grand Valley State took first place overall in the men's Gold Division 8K race, finishing in a time of 23:18.1. Grand Valley State would also capture first place in the men's team competition accumulating 104 points.
On the women's side, Furman University finished first overall in the team competition with 44 total points accumulated. West Virginia (92 points) and Grand Valley State (132 points) rounded out the top three.
Ceili McCabe of West Virginia won the women's competition with a first-place overall finish in a time of 16:23.9.
SEMO will next wrap up its regular season at the Bradley Pink Classic Oct. 14 in Peoria, Illinois. The Classic will be contested at the Newman Golf Course. The women will run 6K while the men will compete over 8K.
