By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BOONE, N.C. – With the first meet in the books, the Tennessee Tech cross country teams had strong performances to open the year at Appalachian State's Covered Bridge Open on Friday.
"I was really impressed with both teams today in the approach to their race," said Tech cross country head coach Peter Dalton. "We ran as a pack and it's going to be exciting to see the success as we develop through the season. There's much more to come from the squads."
The Tech women finished fourth in the meet, topped only by Florida State, Appalachian State and High Point. Freshman Ruby Wyles had a fantastic showing in her first collegiate race, finishing the 5K in 17:44.90 – 11th overall in the field and a personal best.
Freshman Amanda Laboy (18:06.73) and Rahab Sawe (18:16.47) also completed personal-best times as they finished in the top 25. Helen Nagy (18:24.53) and Katharina Schmidt (18:44.83) had good times in their first races at Tech, helping the team finish with a combined average of 18:15.50.
Emma Bradford also collected a personal-best, breaking the 20-minute barrier with a 19:51.71.
Newcomers Madeline Fricke (20:09.99) and Shelby Udovich (20:25.97) showed promise in their debuts.
With a lot of new faces, the Golden Eagle men posted a fifth-place finish in a talented field, coming in just behind Florida State, host Appalachian State, East Tennessee State and High Point. Newcomer Dominic Smith had the top time for the Golden Eagles, posting a personal-best time of 25:39.60 – the 13th best men's time in the meet. Fellow newcomer Miceal McCaul wasn't too far off, finishing 22nd at 26:10.04.
Tech also got solid times from returnees Chase Faudi (26:13.96), Ababu Mohamed (26:20.80) and Clayton Kirkus (26:46.14), while freshmen Nick Beattie (27:38.44) and Robert Dawson (28:09.93) made great debuts as the Golden Eagles averaged 26:14.11 in the 8K race.
The Golden Eagle cross country teams return to action on Friday, Sept. 17, as they travel to Nashville to compete in the Vanderbilt Invitational.
Photos | Autezia Sellers