Cross Country Central: Saturday, August 30
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Alabama State University's Cross Country teams started its 2014 season off on a good note as the Lady Hornets took second place and the Men placed third overall at the JSU Struts Opener.
The Lady Hornets ran their way to a 2nd place finish overall scoring 39 points in their 4K race led by Junior Artrailia Lesane who finished third overall running (15:24) on the course.
ASU had top three top-10 finishes junior Shantia Wilson (15:33) and Tatiana Etienne (16:17) had strong races as they came across the line in fourth and ninth overall. Junior Kimberly Wedderburn (16:29) placed 11th and Freshman Brandee Ebert (16:33) placed 12th in her first race at Alabama State.
Senior Jerrica Mahone (16:49) who placed 15th, Junior Santina Williams (17:04) in 16th, Freshman Sade Lavallias (17:14) in 17th and the trio of Hayley Spears (17:22), Shakailia Williams (17:28) and Markia Bartley (17:32) in 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively helped the Lady Hornets capture the second place victory.
The men finished with 66 points only five points behind second place Jacksonville State (61). The men's team had two top-10 finishes with top finisher sophomore Andrew Coicou (16:56) ran a strong race placing sixth overall. Sophomore Tyree Newton (17:12) was the second Hornet among the top 10 placing tenth overall.
The rest of the Hornets finished in this order led by sophomore Bryont Brown (17:31) in 13th, Christian Jones (17:50) was 20th, Teven Avant (18:08) was 21th, Shemar Rannie(18:29) was 23th and Jordan Agee (18:56) was 25th.
Both teams will be back in action Sept. 5th as they travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Chattanooga Invite.
Mississippi Valley State Brooks Twilight Classic
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The 2014 cross country season officially began for Mississippi Valley State on Saturday at the 12th annual Brooks Twilight Classic, hosted by Christian Brothers University.
MVSU held its own in both the women's and men's competition, with the men finishing ninth and the women coming in at 13th. MVSU was one of 17 Division I teams competing in an event that included 35 total teams.
On the men's side, Aaron Albert (Baker, La.) began his collegiate career off on the right track, becoming the first of Valley's 10 cross country athletes Saturday to finish the 4-mile race with a time of 22:14.34 in the 53rd spot. He was followed by another newcomer and fellow Louisiana native - Kentrell Randolph (Baton Rouge, La.) who placed 69th with a time of 22:38.43. Mississippi native Earl Winters (Kosciusko, Miss.) was the next MVSU runner to complete the race, finishing in the 72nd spot with a time of 22:40.83.
Other MVSU runners to compete in the race included: Jose Serrano (Chula Vista, Calif.), Simeyon Bobbett (Atlanta, Ga.), Felix Kiprop (Nairobi, Kenya), Khaleed Barrett(Hinesville, Ga.), Brandon Damon (Miami, Fla.), Theodore Johnson (Natchez, Miss.) and Juan Perez (Chula Vista, Calif.).
Women's Cross Country
Four MVSU women's runners competed in the 5k race with newcomer Deja Davis leading the way. The Aurora, Ohio native finished in 91st place with a time of 21:19.87. Just three and four spots behind Davis, respectively, were the Gillard twins -- Tamara (21:26.14) and Savannah (21:26.70). Keimaria Davis rounded out the group with a time of 23:46.16, good for 130th place.
MVSU will be back in Mississippi next week when they travel to compete in the Jackson State Invitational on Sept. 6.