KeyShon Taggart
Staff Writer
The Troy cross-country team competed Sept. 29 at the JSU Foothills Invitational. The men and women placed sixth and eighth overall in their respective fields at the Choccolocco Sports Complex.
The women tallied 208 points during the day, coming up a couple of points shy of seventh place, while the men tallied 160 points.
After a strong showing at their last event, finishing second in the men and women’s divisions at the Azalea City Classic and Brackin Stewart winning the Sun Belt Men’s Runner of the Week award, the team wanted to take the next step and finish strong this time.
The Trojans were competing against other Division I teams including Alabama State, Jacksonville State and Samford.
The highlights of the day for the women were when Tanner Guest paced the Trojans in the five-kilometer race with a 12th-place finish with a season-best time of 19:20.80. Macki Walsh and Sydney Singletary rounded out the top three finishers for Troy. Caroline Franklin finished with her season-best time of 21:44.20 earning her 70th place, followed by Jenna Oden who finished with a time of 22:05.10, which placed her at 79th place.
“Tanner had a really nice run and was able to run a PR,” said Head Coach Elliot Blount after the event. “Tanner has responded very well to training.
“We also had some good efforts from the runners we’ll rely on more heavily during track season.”
The men were led by Bradley Dixon with his 28th-place finish in the seven-kilometer race with a time of 23:46.40. Austin Gray followed Dixon with a time of 24:09.10 which placed him 36th. Delaney Moore rounds out the top three, finishing 41st. The Trojans also scored with Isaiah Eller (44th, 24:28.60) and Thomas Ward (50th, 24:45.40).
“I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more from a few of the men,” Blount said. “How the men that raced today compete at the conference will have a huge impact on our Sun Belt outcome.”
The Trojans race again on Oct. 6, when they travel to Clinton, Mississippi, to race in the Watson Ford Invitational.
