TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Mike Mahan led the Tennessee Tech men's cross
country team and Beth Miller was the top finisher for the women's
team as the Golden Eagles competed Friday at the NCAA South
Regional meet, hosted by Florida State University in Tallahassee,
Fla.
Mahan posted a career-best time of 33:16.2 while finishing in
108th place, two spots ahead of teammate Matthew Bishop, who
covered the distance in 33:19.5, about nine second shy of his
personal-best. Daniel Francis, running that distance for the first
time, was Tech's third finisher, placing 142nd in
34:13.1.
Adam McLeod also posted a career-best time, finishing 161st in
35:16.3 as the fourth counter for the Golden Eagles. The Tech
lineup also included Sterling Smith, finishing in 35:54.9, Kolbe
Andrzejewski in 37:16.7, and Charlie Jordan in 37:23.1. LIke
Francis, it was the first race at that distance for Andrzejewski
and Jordan.
Overall, the Golden Eagle men finished in 24th place among the 26
teams in the field. Tech closed the day ahead of Florida Atlantic
and South Florida.
Four of Tech's seven entries also posted career-best efforts in the
women's 6K race, including Miller who paced the team with a time of
23:10.7 That shattered her previous best at that distance, which
was 24:27 earlier this year. She was in 151st place Friday.
Rebecca Cline, who was second for the GoOlden Eagles, clocked a new
PR to finish 167th in 23:49.1, and freshman Landry Loving also had
a career-best with a time of 24:22.4 to place third on the team.
Peri Winborne was fourth for Tech in 24:51.3, followed by Kathryn
Forbes with a PR f 25:25.8, Amelia McCoy in 25:27.1, and Meghan
O'Donoghue n 26:04.0.
Florida State captured first place in both the men's and women's
races. Second place teams, which also qualified to run in the NCAA
National Championships in Louisville next week, were Georgia in the
men's event and Vanderbilt in the women's race.