By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Through all the challenges and obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessee Tech cross country teams completed their shortened, spring campaigns Monday afternoon, competing at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships at Weakley Park.
The Golden Eagle men showed a big improvement from a ninth-place finish in 2019, placing sixth among the 11 teams in competition on the day. With 166 points, the purple and gold edged out Southeast Missouri by three points for the sixth-place finish. Tech also finished just five points behind Morehead State.
Narrowly missing out on All-OVC honors by one spot, senior Ababu Mohamed returned to the lineup to paced the Golden Eagles with a 15th-place showing. After missing the Golden Eagle Invitational, Mohamed turned in an 8K time of 28:16.7.
Next among the Tech finishers was freshman Chase Faudi, coming off a season-best showing in the team's home event on Feb. 19. The Soddy Daisy, Tenn. native concluded his rookie campaign in 27th, coming in with a time of 28:59.7.
Fellow freshman Clayton Kirkus also enjoyed a solid performance in his first-ever OVC championship race, finishing with a time of 29:46.0 to place 38th.
"The men improved on last year's championship finish by three spots," Tech head coach Peter Dalton said. "Most importantly, the freshman core of the team is exciting for the future of our program. I think with another strong recruiting class coming to Cookeville, we are sure to take that next step towards the top of the conference."
For the Golden Eagles women in the 5K, it was junior transfer Tina Cesnik leading the way with a time of 20:53.0. She finished 27th overall among the 78 runners competing.
Rookie Amanda Laboy completed her highly successful first season in the purple and gold second among Golden Eagle finishers. The Franklin, Tenn. native finished 38th with a final time of 21:30.0. Rounding out her Tech career was senior Courtney McCowan, turning in a time of 23:59.0.
"On the women's side, missing our number one lady hurts, along with some other challenges overcome by the team we had out there," Dalton explained. "However, I was really impressed with the effort today. Again, the youth on our team is a great indicator of future success."
Photo by TTU Track & Field
