The men’s and women’s cross country teams have competed in four meets this year and have showed improvement each week as they prepare to finish the season strong.
For the first time in nine years, the women’s team won a meet as they finished first among a field of eight teams at their opening meet of the season hosted by Jacksonville State on Friday, Aug. 31.
Three KSU athletes took the top three spots in the 5K race including freshman Brenda Ayuk who was the first individual to win an event for the Owls in two years. Her time of 18 minutes and 44 seconds was closely followed by senior Caitlyn Farrell and sophomore Katie Meyer.
On the men’s side, Chase Kennedy and Koi Williams finished third and fourth respectively as the team finished fifth overall.
“Hats off to the women’s team winning their first meet in nine years with the top three finishers all in KSU gold,” Head Coach David Poteet said. “I am very proud of them all.”
A week later the cross country teams headed to Athens, Georgia, to play in the Bulldog Invitational, where the women finished fourth out of six teams and the men finished last out of four teams.
Ayuk once again led the way for the women as she placed 12th in a field of 85 athletes. The Owls finished just a point away from third place during a meet dominated by the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
Kennedy was the top finisher again for the men as he finished 20th out of 65 athletes.
After an extended break, the Owls traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, to compete at the Queen City Invitational on Friday, Sept. 28.
In a large 28-team field, the women finished in seventh place while Ayuk continued the successful start to her KSU career. She earned another top finish for the team after finishing fourth out 263 athletes.
Kennedy finished in 18th place among the large field as the men managed to place eighth during an 8K meet that Liberty University ran away with, placing six athletes in the top 20.
“We couldn’t have had much better of a day for both the women’s and men’s teams,” Poteet said. “This was a meet that I wanted to use as a marker of how or if the runners are improving. They improved today.”
Ayuk won her second meet at the Berry Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13, leaving 216 other athletes behind. The women finished fourth overall as Farrell and Meyer were the second and third-place finishers for KSU for the fourth consecutive meet.
Kennedy came close to his first victory as he finished fourth for the men. The team finished third overall as they continued to improve each week.
As the teams gear up for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, they will be relying on the consistency of their top performers. While Ayuk and Kennedy have been anchors for each team, the next-best finishers will also have to carry their qualities over to the postseason.
The cross country teams will travel to Newark, New Jersey, to compete in the conference championships on Friday, Oct. 26.
