The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s and women’s track teams had strong showings Saturday afternoon in the Distance Medley Relay at the Niswonger Invitational hosted by East Tennessee State University at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.
Head Coach Bill Gautier placed four teams in the race. The men placed second and fifth while the women finished fourth and 11th.
The Chattanooga men’s A team placed second overall, just more than two seconds behind Middle Tennessee’s top place team with a time of 10:20.78. Freshman Paul Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.) started the event with the 1200 meter and handed off to classmate Geoff Nelson (Brentwood, Tenn.) for the 400 meter. Freshman Trevor Janssen (Jordan Station, Ontario) ran the 800m leg of the race and handed off to senior Nathan Wanuch (Mississauga, Ontario) who ran a 4:14 1600m leg.
“Our ‘B’ team was actually leading the ‘A’ team until the final leg,” Gautier said. “Nathan [Wanuch] did a great job in the anchor.”
The ‘B’ team led off by junior John Gilpin (Nashville, Tenn.) finished with a time of 10:40.24. He was joined on the track by Blake Olson (Pleasantview, Tenn.) in the 400, freshman Marquis Carter (Memphis, Tenn.) in the 800m and Patrick O’Brien (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the 1600m.
The women’s fourth place team of freshman Teghan Henderson (Pickering, Ontario), junior Gabby Cader (Cleveland, Tenn.), sophomore Rebecca Greenwall (Bogart, Ga.) and sophomore Amanda Sumner (Bristol, Conn.) ran the DMR in a time of 12:13.96.
The women’s ‘B’ team finished 11th with a time of 12:56.98 led off by sophomore Rachel Greenwall (Bogart, Ga.). Freshman Kianna Howard (Nashville, Tenn.) ran the 400m followed by sophomore Jessica Philpott (Manchester, Tenn.) in the 800m and freshman Helenka Kis (Columbia, Tenn.) in the 1600m anchor.
“I’m so proud of what they were all able to do today,” Gautier said. “This will give us lots to build on for next week when we run at Kentucky.”
The men’s and women’s teams will be back in action next week at the University of Kentucky Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.