Tennessee Men Finish 12th, Women Take 33rd at Pre Nationals

October 14, 2017 | Track & Field

Men's 8K Red Results Women's 6K Red Results Men's 8K Black Results Women's 6K Black Results

Zach Long placed 36th in the Men's 8K Red race; Megan Murray finished 84th in Women's 6K Red race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Tennessee cross country teams took on some of the nation's best on Saturday at the 2017 NCAA Division I Pre National Invitational presented by adidas at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky. UT finished 12th in the Men's 8K Red race and 33rd in the Women's 6K Red race.

2017 NCAA Division I Pre Nationals

Men's 8K Red Race

Tennessee Men (12th of 41)

36. Zach Long, 23:47.60
88. Conner Hawkins, 24:23.60
95. Wesley Robinson, 24:27.20
98. John Elrod, 24:28.00
123. Alex Crigger, 24:42.50
177. Andre Hillsman, 25:05.10
207. Brad Swiney, 25:19.70

Women's 6K Red Race

Tennessee Women (33rd of 43)

84. Megan Murray, 21:02.10
112. Niamh Schumacher, 21:17.90
165. Abigail Smith, 21:47.90
225. Peighton Meske, 22:24.80
248. Emma Reed, 22:54.20
273. Cassidy Giles, 23:37.30
283. Taylor Luthringer, 24:17.20

Men's 8K Black Race

42. Gashaw Duhamel, 25:05.50
55. Drew Kelley, 25:22.10
94. Adam Johnston, 25:46.00
158. David Savic, 26:44.00

Women's 6K Black Race

138. Rachel Ware,23:04.40
251. Alaina Riordan, 25:46.40

"The highlight of the day was our men's race," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We ran extremely well and very tough. I believe that it was close to a 20-second spread between our no. 2 and our no. 5. We had about a minute spread between no. 1 and no. 5 and it's definitely what we're working on for our scorers to be as tight as a pack as they can and run competitively.

"I felt really good about our performance on the men's side. We compared our performances from two years ago. We were 12th in the 'B' race two years ago. To be 12th in the 'A' race today was a vast improvement and really bodes well for the squad to be looking so good coming into championship time. We were extremely pleased with the three freshmen on the men's side. They packed it up and ran with Wes Robinson and really gave us that 2 through 5 for a great race. Andre Hillsman ran a very tough race for us as our no. 6."

Junior Zach Long led the UT men, finishing 36th (35 points) out of 292 runners with a career-best 8K time of 23:47.60 in the Men's 8K Red. Freshman Conner Hawkins broke the 25-minute mark for the first time in his career, finishing 88th (86 points) in 24:23.60. Junior Wesley Robinson finished 95th (93 points) with a career-best time of 24:27.20 and freshman John Elrod posted a career-best time of 24:28.00 to finish 98th (96 points). Freshman Alex Crigger rounded out UT's top five with a career-best time of 24:42.50 to take 123rd (120 points). Andre Hillsman finished 177th in 25:05.10 and Brad Swiney took 207th in 25:19.70.

Sophomore Gashaw Duhamel, senior Drew Kelley, sophomore Adam Johnston and sophomore David Savic ran in the Men's 8K Black race. Duhamel finished 42nd with a career-best time of 25:05.50. Kelley finished 55th in 25:22.10. Johnston finished 94th in 25:46.00. Savic finished 158th in 26:44.00.

"Out of the 'B' race, we got a great race out of Gashaw Duhamel," Alford-Sullivan said. "He performed well today. We were thrilled overall and we look forward to getting a little recovery after this hard effort. It was hot and very competitive today, so we need to get recovered off of this and then we will turn around and prepare for the conference meet in two weeks."

Sophomore Megan Murray led the Tennessee women in the Women's 6K Red race, finishing 84th (82 points) with a time of 21:02.10. Freshman Niamh Schumacher finished 112th (109 points) in 21:17.90 and freshman Abigail Smith took 165th (162 points) at 21:47.90, breaking the 22-minute mark for the first time in her career. Junior Peighton Meske finished 225th (222 points) in a career-best 22:24.80 and junior Emma Reed rounded out UT's top five in 248th (245 points) in 22:54.20. Junior Cassidy Giles placed 273rd in 23:37.30 and freshman Taylor Luthringer placed 283rd in 24:18.20.

"We had another very challenging competition for the women," Alford-Sullivan said. "In a team of sophomores and freshmen, we have a lot of growth to do. We had a competitive race out of Megan Murray and Niamh Schumacher, but really a breakthrough race for Abigail Smith, coming in as our no. 3. I was very pleased with those three frontrunners. I think that in a field like the SEC we will do much better, being able to control things a little bit more and feeling the competitive race up front a little bit cleaner."

Freshmen Rachel Ware and Alaina Riordan competed in the Women's 6K Black race. Ware finished 138th in 23:04.40. Riordan finished 251st in 25:46.40.

Tennessee will next run in the 2017 SEC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 27 at UGA Golf Course in Athens, Georgia.