By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's and women's cross country teams braved the elements and successfully played host to the Golden Eagle Invitational Friday afternoon at the Golden Eagle Golf Club.
Despite the full week of freezing rain, ice, snow and bitter cold, the Golden Eagle squads welcomed five other teams to Cookeville for a unique experience, racing in the snow-covered grounds of Golden Eagle Golf Club.
Competing in the 8K, the Tech men were highlighted by a trio of freshmen in their efforts on the day, starting with Soddy Daisy, Tenn. native Chase Faudi. The rookie shattered his season-best effort by a full two minutes, producing the third-fastest 8K time in program history of 24:00.5 to finish 14th overall.
Clayton Kirkus was the next across the finish line for the Golden Eagles, clocking in with an impressive and personal-best 24:35.5. His performance represented the 13th-best in team history. Rylee Hertter also enjoyed easily the top showing of his young career, shaving over three minutes off his previous best effort for a time of 25:33.2.
"It was a good day for our freshmen on both sides," Tech head coach Peter Dalton said. "We were missing a few student-athletes out there today, and it showed, but I'm excited about the future of our program."
Leading things in the 5K for the Tech women's team was freshman Amanda Laboy, who turned in her best showing in the purple and gold this season. The rookie beat her previous best time in the 5K by over 30 seconds, clocking a time of 19:14.1 to finish 13th overall.
Not far behind her teammate was North Florida transfer Tina Cesnik, who finished at 19:19.0 for her top time of the season. The junior placed 14th overall and second among the Golden Eagles. Rahab Sawe also performed at a season-best pace, finishing with a time of 20:08.4.
"I really want to give a big thanks to all of our supporters, especially our facilities staff, who made this a highly successful day," Dalton remarked. "It took a lot of hard work in a very short time to pull this off and it couldn't have been done without every single one of them."
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the 2020-21 campaign at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Mar. 1 in Clarksville, Tenn.
Photo by Rob Schabert
