By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
NEW ORLEANS, La. – After its third runner-up finish, and fifth straight top-six result of the 2018 campaign, Tennessee Tech men's cross country received a sixth-place ranking in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's South Region, the highest position the program has ever held.
The rise is due in large part to the Golden Eagles' performance at last week's UAB Blazer Classic. In a field of 133 runners, all five TTU men finished within the top 20, propelling the Golden Eagles to defeat Tennessee and Florida A&M head-to-head – two programs ranked ahead of Tech in last week's regional rankings. Florida State, the region's No. 5 team, was the event champion, besting TTU by just nine points.
While UT maintained its No. 2 spot in the region for Week 5, Tennessee Tech did unseat A&M, the previous No. 6, and leapfrogged East Tennessee State as well, last week's seventh-ranked team.
Brannon Cheplak led the squad with a time of 24:35.06, while Gabriel Kiprono was the fifth with a time of 25:05.23, which gave Tech an excellent spread of just over 30 seconds.
Tech's team score of 52 points at the Blazer was its third-lowest of the season, behind marks of 29 at the Golden Eagle Invitational and 48 at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
