LOUISVILLE, Ky. - App State men's cross country put forth a solid showing at the 20th annual Live in Lou Cross Country Classic, finishing sixth out of 36 teams on Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.
The Mountaineers finished with 261 points on the day, while No. 26 Wisconsin captured first place with 26 points. Grand Valley State (2nd-67), Eastern Illinois (3rd - 174), Louisville (4th - 196), Lipscomb (5th - 206) rounded out the top five.
Isaac Harding of Grand Valley State took home the individual title with a time of 23:16.7.
"The men followed their race plan to a "T," said head coach
Michael Curcio. "It's the biggest race they've run since this meet two years ago, and we moved up through the last two miles.
For the second time in as many races,
Daniel Smith set a PR as he crossed the finish line with a time of 24:10.7 to place a team-best 35th. Smith best his previous time of 25:15.36 from the Firetower Project, while it's the second-fastest time in school history in the 8k.
Ryan Brown's time of 24:17.0 was the fastest time of the season for the senior, which was good for 42nd.
Dwayne Lillie posted a PR on Saturday, racing across the line with a time of 24:29.0. The sophomore placed 55th for the Black and Gold.
Posting another season-best for the Mountaineers was
Isaac Benz, whose time of 24:31.0 was the fastest time of the year. Benz finished right behind Brown in 56th.
Ryan Teuscher's time of 24:44.5 topped his previous PR of 25:37.86 from the Firetower Project. Teuscher finished 82nd to round out the five Mountaineers who placed in the top 100 out of 353 runners.
"Our top 5 has a lot of experience, and we're very fortunate to have had that experience going into the race. From 1-11, the men competed well. We still have a few kinks to work out for the Sun Belt Championships and the Southeast Regionals," stated Curcio.
App State returns to action in two weeks on Oct. 15 at the High Point Vertcross hosted by High Point.
*Note: Chase Burrell and Ryan Brown's time chips were flipped.
