HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Matt Bishop paced the Tennessee Tech men's team
to a fourth place showing while Beth Miller earned a Top 10
individual spot and led the Golden Eagle women's squad to sixth
place at the Fleet Feet Sports Invitational Saturday in Huntsville
to get the 2012 cross country season underway.
Bishop finished 12th overall in the field of 73 runners on the
men's 8K course, posting a time of 27:13.7. Sterling Smith was next
across the line for the Golden Eagles, marking a new career-best
time of 27:34.4 to finish 16th, while Adam McLeod matched his
career-best time with a 27:37.1 finish to place 17th.
Mike Mahan placed 19th overall in 27:43.6, followed by Daniel
Francis in 40th place with a time of 29:44.3. Kolbe Andrzejewski
capped off Tech's lineup, placing 45th in a time of 30:09.8
Host Alabama-Huntsville claimed first place in the men's event
with 30 points, includin three of the four top finishers. West
FLorida (50) was second, followed by Morehouse (54), Tech (100),
Montevallo (148), Young Harris (149), North Alabama (191), Stillman
(249) and Miles (261).
In the women's 5K race, Delta State won with 68 points, a narrow
victory over Montevallo (79), with West Florida (82) third, UA
Huntsville (87) fourth and Young Harris (95) fifth. Tech placed
sixth (111), followed by North Alabama (171), Alabama A&M
(203), Stillman (285) and Miles (291).
Miller ran the route in 20:02.6, just two seconds off the pace of
her 5K career-best time, placing her ninth in the field of 74
entries.
Rebecca Cline was next for Tech, finishing 20th overall in
20:43.5, while Meghan O'Donoghue placed 23rd in 21:04.9. Amelia
McCoy and Kathryn Forbes crossed the line virtually together, with
McCoy placing 29th in 21:23.0 and Forbes in 30th place with a
career-best showing of 21:23.4.
Tech's lineup Saturday also included Peri Winborne in 35th place
in 21:38.1, and Landry Loving placing 42nd in 22:00.8 in her first
collegiate meet.
The next meet on the agenda for the Tech teams is next Saturday at
the Vanderbilt Invitational.