BERRY, Ga. – The Tennessee Tech women's cross country team, led by Rebecca Cline and Beth Miller, captured third place at the Viking Invitational, hosted by Berry College Saturday morning.
The Golden Eagle men's team did one better, finishing in second place as Sterling Smith and Mike Mahan led a balanced effort by coach Tony Cox's team.
It was the final meet of the year for Tech before heading to the Ohio Valley Conference championships, Oct. 27, at Jacksonville State.
The men ran first Saturday and the Golden Eagles got a balanced performance as five runners placed in the Top 20 in the 8K race. Smith, a sophomore from Knoxville, covered the distance in 27:18.93 for a 10th place individual showing.
Mahan, a senior from Tullahoma, Tenn., was just seconds behind, finishing 12th in the time of 27:27.50. Matthew Bishop and Adam McLeod were also right on his heels. Bishop placed 14th in the time of 27:32.76 while McLeod claimed 15th place in 27:50.64. Daniel Francis was Tech's fifth counter, placing 18th in 27:48.08.
Tech's lineup Saturday also included Kolbe Andrzejewski, Charlie Jordan and Matthew Pennycuff.
Emory won the team title in the men's race with a score of 54, while Tech tallied 69 points for second place. Host Berry College was third (100 points) in the field of 15 teams.
Emory also captured the team win in the 15-team women's race with a near-perfect score of 17. West Georgia (85) edged Tech for second place while the Golden Eagle women grabbed third by a narrow margin. Tech had 111 points, with University of the South (115) right behind.
Tech's runners came in pretty much in pairs, led by Cline and Miller. Cline, a junior from Spring Hill, Tenn., placed 14th in the time of 24:14.19 on the 5K course, while Miller, a senior from Watertown, Wis., was 16th in 24:27.95.
Landry Loving, a freshman from Johnson City, Tenn., was 25th in 25:03.95 while junior Peri Winborne finished 26th in 25:06.70. The next Tech duo across the line included Amelia McCoy and Kathryn Forbes. McCoy placed 30th in 25:26.66 while Forbes finished 31st in 25:30.77.
Meghan O'Donoghue, Kara Webb and Elizabeth Mitchell also competed for Tech.
Photos provided by Landry Loving