UTC Women Win Berry Cross-Country Invitational

 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Emily Poole led the Mocs to a first place finish on a bright and crisp fall Saturday morning at the Berry College Invitational on the Vikings’ campus.

Poole trailed the lead runner throughout the race and was passed by a runner from Berry with about two-kilometers to go in the 6K race. After letting a sizable gap form, the Mocs’ all-conference runner closed in and kicked past her to finish second with a time of 22:24.92.

“I thought she had a chance,” Chattanooga head coach Andy Meyer said. “To see Emily kick like that was great. Usually she’s at the front of the race and there’s so much separation she doesn’t have to kick. To see her have to kick today was great.”

Kennedy Thomson was the second UTC runner across the finish line sixth overall with a time of 23:01.76. Hannah Caldwell placed ninth overall with a time of 23:10.34 with Brianna Nelson 12th at 23:15.14. Nicole Buehrle was the fifth UTC scoring runner to finish with a time of 23:28.74 followed immediately by Sophia Neglia (23:29.97) and Julia Henderson who ran a personal record 23:30.42.

The Mocs finished with 39 points followed by Georgia with 65 points. Host Berry was third with 92 points and Kennesaw State placed fourth with 98 points. KSU’s Brenda Ayuk led the entire race and finished with a time of 22:07.36.

“With conference coming up, I didn’t want them pulling back in milage too much,” Meyer said. “We had a hard workout Tuesday and a long run on Thursday. Friday was really their only day off this week.

“Some of them were tired and some had heavy legs, but they all raced really well. Some better than I thought. It just goes to show the girls conditioning and where they’re at now.”

Poole has been the Mocs’ top finisher in all three races this season, but the second finisher has been up for grabs as three different runners have taken that spot. Caldwell was second for UTC at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic and newcomer Mackenzie Jones was the second Mocs’ finisher at the Greater Louisville Classic.

“Every week it’s somebody new that we’ve had in that second or third or fourth spot,” Meyer said. “[Hannah, Kennedy and Brianna] train together and they get along so well. Their ability level is all pretty equal. Somebody’s going to have a bad day. We’ve been great at having somebody step in to take that spot." 

The men’s race finished in exciting fashion for the Mocs. Nathan Watson hung out in the Top 10 the majority of the race with teammate Mark Britt not far behind. Britt worked his way up toward Watson as they neared the end of the 8K.

However, that plan changed as he was in danger of being taken over by two others. He kicked it in and just before heading into the chute, he kept the two foes at bay and overtook Watson at the same time to finish seventh overall with a PR time of 25:57.83.

Watson was ninth with a time of 26:00.28. Ryan Gebelein was the third Chattanooga runner across the finish line with a time of 26:09.21 and 13th overall.

“All three have great ability,” Meyer said. “They all run together, train together and it’s good for the team. Everybody’s going to have a bad day but it’s nice to know somebody can pick that up, that we’ve got somebody that can step in and pick it up.”

Freshman Jonathan Boyd was 31st overall with a time of 26:48.25. Micah Sneller was the fifth scoring runner for the Mocs with a time of 28:23.81. He was followed immediately by Ryan Phillips (28:24.58) and Josh Topham (29:17.59) rounded out the lineup.

“We looked at the times from this race last year and knew the general range,” Meyer said. “We knew our kids had the ability to be within that range. We didn’t want them to lead the race, but we wanted them to be near the front and they did a great job of letting the lead pack kind of go.

“They weaved their way through and did a great job of accelerating the second half of the race and picking people off and moving through the pack. Really pleased with all of them and how they finished.

Berea College was the men’s overall winner with 52 points. Chattanooga was second with 114 points followed by Kennesaw State, Emory and Olgethorpe.

The Mocs will take the next two weeks to prepare for the Southern Conference Championships to be held Saturday, October 27 hosted by Western Carolina in Cullowhee.

 

Women’s Results

Individual

Men’s Results

Individual