The men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed at the Commodore Classic in Vanderbilt, Saturday, Sept. 16. Both teams obtained a 14th-place finish against competitive D1 schools.
The women’s team was once again led by junior Caitlyn Farrell, who finished 83rd among 176 runners in the women’s 5k race. This was the third consecutive time that Farrell was the top finisher for the women’s team and she did so with a time of 19:07.5.
The men’s team was led by freshman Ben Patterson who finished 61st in the men’s 8k race. Like Farrell, Patterson has also been the top finisher for the men’s cross country team in three consecutive races, doing so against 150 other racers.
“[We] had a lot of work to do with the mental aspect of running,” said head coach David Poteet, when asked how the team prepared for the weekend. “Going deeper into workouts, enjoying beating the pain, and then transferring that into racing”.
The cross-country team still has a lot of room for improvement. This is a very young squad with seven freshmen between the men’s and women’s teams, which means the future is very bright. Coach Poteet hopes the team’s hard work will pay off with higher finishes in future competition.
“The goal is and always has been to compete strongly at our conference meet, and for those who reach the needed times, to do the same at the regional meet,” coach Poteet said.
Both the men and women’s cross-country teams will compete at the Foothills Invitational in Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 30.
