(PHOTO/ Troy Athletics)
The Troy cross country team saw a top-five men’s finish led by several personal bests at the annual JSU Foothills Invite.
Personal bests powered the men’s cross-country team to a fourth-place finished while the women’s team placed third in the 14thannual JSU Foothills Invitational Saturday morning at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
Macki Walsh led the women’s side with an eighth-place finish in 18:18.60, a 5K personal record.
A Trojan trio in Tanner Guest, Cadi Rowe and Caroline Sall finished 14th, 15thand 16th, respectively, to round Troy’s top finishes. Sall’s time of 19:00.80 also marked a 5K personal record. The women tallied 68 total points for a third-place finish.
“Our women were a little too tame on the front end,” Head Coach Elliot Blount said. “At conference, we are going to have to execute a race plan that leans toward front running and is more aggressive. We have one more go to put it together; we’re fit, so I have faith this group is going to pull it together.”
On the men’s side, the team tallied 105 points to bring home a fourth-place finish. Bradley Dixon paced the Trojans with a fifth-place finish at 25:59.90. Silas Franklin was Troy’s second-highest finisher placing 15that 26:48.50. Isaiah Eller, Thomas Ward and Blake Vaughn all recorded personal best.
“Our men had their best race of the season with lifetime and season personal records,” Blount said. “It was a step in the right direction for the group. Two runners projected to be in our top seven sat out, but we look to be at full strength at UAB to build off this solid showing. We will be back to work on Tuesday.
The Trojans will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, October 18, to race in the Blazer Invite.
