Cross country records three top-10s on Friday

FLORENCE, Alabama – University of Memphis cross country runners Payton gleason and Lauren Metzger punctuated the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, to complete the North Alabama Invitational races on Friday.

In his debut in the season, Gleason placed third overall, making the race his first fastest 8k (24: 48.28). He led the men to a second place tag team (79 points), finishing only behind Mississippi College (31 points).

The freshman was also making progress for the Tigers Hudson hurst, who placed 13^e (25: 22.09).

“It is certainly a positive indicator of the role he has [Hurst] can play in our team “, cross country coach Ken frenette noted. “I was really impressed with how the freshmen and sophomores worked together in 34 seconds from our second man to our seventh.”

Five more broke personal bests for men: Max Rathburn (25: 28.83), Anton mishna (25: 35.82), Jason doland (25: 43.78), Liam walsh (25: 45.61) and Andrew Henton (25: 56.18).

In the women’s 5k, Metzger led the Tigers in eighth (18: 50.27), losing her personal best in the Twilight Classic last weekend by more than 60 seconds. Sonsoles Martin-Rodriguez closely followed, finishing ninth with a PR of 18: 51.55.

Hannah anderson and Erine Gilbert posted impressive PRs placing 12^e (19: 02.38) and 31^st (19: 42.89), respectively.

The women’s team finished fourth in a field of 13, with a total of 81 points.

“Overall, both teams ticked the boxes this weekend,” said Frenette. “As we move forward, the Conference Championships are our destination and our focus as we continue to get fitter, sharper and more daring.”

After having had the top three Twilight Classic riders for both the men’s and women’s teams this race, next week’s Rhodes Invitational will be the first time the Tigers have raced at full strength this season.

This is the first time since the 2007 season that the teams will face each other for three consecutive weekends to start the season. After the Rhodes Invitational next Saturday, the Tigers will have a weekend off before the Greater Louisville Classic on October 2.

Full results
Men 8k
5 km women

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Cross Country, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team’s social media at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.