The App State men’s and women’s cross country teams led the competition at the Firetower Project Run in Boone on Friday. The men’s team clinched first in the team standings with 24 points in the men’s 8K, while the women’s team took second with 63 points in the women’s 6K.
“The men worked really well as a unit,” said men’s distance coach Brad Herbster. “Redshirt senior Calbert Guest and junior Ethan Lipham helped each other out. Guest getting the win in front of a nice crowd is a good step in the right direction. Having redshirt junior Chase Burrell in the mix was great. Our freshmen Rowan Gwin and Aaron Kidd raced well, as did our newcomer graduate student Ethan Turner. Our freshmen and unattached athletes had a good race and we are setting up for good improvements, as the Notre Dame meet will be fast. Thank you to Firetower Project for their support.”
Guest clinched first in the men’s race with an 8K personal best of 23:45.37. Lipham was next to cross the finish line with a time of 24:20.25 to round out the top-five. Following close behind was Burrell, who took sixth with a personal best of 24:30.08, and Gwin, who placed seventh with a personal best of 24:31.66. In his debut with the Mountaineers, Turner clocked a time of 24:34.02 to round out the top-10.
“I’m really happy with the team’s attitude, effort, and grit and how that translated into our results,” said women’s distance coach Annie Richards. “Across the team, our women were able to maintain their pace from the 5K race two weeks ago and finish with a fast final kilometer for today’s 6K distance. We had a lot of personal bests and I really look forward to seeing what we can do in several weeks at Notre Dame and in the championship season.”
In the women’s race, senior Jasmine Donohue set pace for the Mountaineers, clocking a 6K personal best of 21:08.23 to place eighth overall. Fellow senior Lauren Johnston was the next Mountaineer to cross the finish line, recording a time of 21:25.63 to place 12th. Seniors Emma Russum and Lana Farris rounded out the top-15 with time of 21:33.67 and 21:43.22 (PR), respectively. Freshman Bre Budzinski stopped the clock at 21:50.92 for a 6K personal best.
The Mountaineers will head to South Bend, Ind. for Notre Dame’s Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 4.
{Information provided by Appalachian State Athletics}
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