IRVING, Texas – Five American cross-country squads competed this past weekend. UCF women ran at the North Texas Showcase, Cincinnati ran at the Spartan Invite, Wichita State ran at the Breeno/Dirksen Invitational and Memphis and South Florida ran at the North Alabama Showcase.
Personal bests and a new freshman record highlighted the UCF cross country team's strong performance in the North Alabama Showcase on Friday morning at John Hunt Park. Thirteen Knights finished with a new personal best in the race and they are listed below:
As a team, the Knights finished ninth in a loaded field with more than 40 teams.
Richardson led the way for UCF, finishing 17th and shattering the previous UCF freshman record (17:43.60). Her time of 17:12.38 also ranks as the fourth best in program history.
The University of Cincinnati cross county teams shined against the competitive field at the Spartan Invite on Friday at the Forest Akers East Golf Course. The men placed second overall with 89 points and the women came in fifth at 156 points.
Tyler Wirth looked dominant in his season debut, finishing sixth with an 8K time of 24:45.84. The senior recorded a sub 5-minute average mile at 4:58 and never fell outside of the top-seven performers in any split.
In the women's 6K, Maddie Walker had an excellent race completing the course with a time of 21:58.72 to claim 12th overall.
A young Wichita State women's cross country team, racing without its top two runners, recorded eight personal bests to finish eighth out of 29 teams at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska. Miranda Dick led the way for the Shocker women, placing in the top 30 with a 5K personal-best time of 18:27.8.
The Memphis men's and women's teams finished the meet with six new personal records and two top-25 finishes.
Chloe Figgins led the women's team with a new 5k PR (17:15.20), finishing 21st out of 384 female runners. Freshman Jazlyn Villarreal lowered her personal best in the 5k by 40 seconds (18:54.12).
On the men's side, Hudson Hurst was the first Tiger to cross the finish line for the 8k, placing 22nd with a PR time of 24:11.02. Vincent Chenier, Anton Michna and Jake Arnold all also turned in PR performances.
Both South Florida squads placed 21st behind several regionally and nationally ranked competitors. The men checked in at 21st place among a field of 38 and the women also finished in 21st out of 41 teams.
For the men's 8K race, senior Ben Kailes (Jacksonville, Fla.) was the top finished for USF with a personal best time of 24:47.14, fastest Bull since 2015 (Michael Babinec). Nickolas Kamen (Naples, Fla.) and Sebastian Edwards (Celebration, Fla.) followed behind for the Bulls with personal bests of. 25:25.20 and 25:41.0.
Sydney Granack (Bradenton, Fla.) paced the women's team with a personal best time of 18:08.20 in the 5K race, while freshman Cora Kolodge (Fair Haven, Mich.) placed second for the Bulls with personal best of 18:35.73. Kelly Lynch (Wilmington, Del.) rounded out the top three for the Bulls with a personal best mark of 18:52.2.