CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's cross country took first at its season-opening 2022 Redhawks Invitational, totaling 30 points with its five scorers finishing in the top nine Friday at the Osage Centre Fields. The Redhawk men placed second overall with 46 total points with three runners in the top seven.
"I'm very excited about our season-opening performance," Associate Head Coach for Cross Country and Track & Field
Ryan Lane said following the Invitational. "It went better than I anticipated, and we were missing two women and two men due to illness."
Katie Wegmann paced the way on the women's side finishing third overall in the 4K with a personal-best time of 14:25.3. The competition was her first back since suffering a season-ending injury during the 2022 indoor track season.
Taylor Fox finished in fifth place, crossing the line in 14:28.3 (PR).
Hannah Eastman (14:38.9, PR) followed in sixth to round out the top three runners for SEMO.
Madelyn Gray (14:53.9, seventh, PR),
Sarah Russom (15:12.6, ninth, PR),
Brianna Payton (15:14.7, 10th, PR) rounded out the top 10 for the women's 4K.
Freshman
Lexie Dockstader (15:19.1) finished in 12th in her Redhawks debut.
Mackenzie Pugh (15:27.0, 14th, PR),
Haley Smith (15:33.6, 16th, PR), along with freshmen
Kayla Vogelsang (15:37.5, 17th, PR) and
Alayna Sparr (16:14.7, 29th, PR) also all competed for SEMO in the women's 4K race.
Noah Little paced the Redhawk men's team. The Washington, Missouri, native, crossed the line in a career best 18:26.4 in the 6K race for third overall.
Seth Gleason followed close behind, finishing fifth with a personal-best time of 18:39.0.
Aaron Modrow finished in seventh place with a time of 18:46.2 (PR).
Terrico Garrett (18:59.2, 11th, PR) and
Justin Splitt (19:35.6, 20th, PR) rounded out the SEMO top five scorers.
Also taking part in the men's 6K race for the Redhawks was
Clayton Eftink (19:44.0, 24th, PR)
Garrett Dumke (19:47.5, 25th, PR), and freshman
Jacob Blassingame (20:09.4, 32nd, PR).
SEMO's performances Friday were its best starts to a season since 2010 for the men and 2018 for the women.
Missouri Baptist (77 points) and Southern Illinois (78 points) finished second and third, respectively, to round out the top three on the women's side.
Rachel Anderson of Southern Illinois finished in first place (13:50.4) on the women's side at the Invitational.
For the men, Southern Illinois took first overall with 33 points before SEMO (46 points, second), and followed by Lindenwood (104 points) in third, rounding out the top three teams on the men's side.
Jason Bowers of the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) won the men's 6K in 17:37.6.
The Redhawks will next compete at the McKendree Bearcat Cross-Country Classic in Lebanon, Illinois, Sept. 23. The men will run an 8K while the women's race is a 5K.
