UTM runs all night in opener

MEMPHIS — The UT Martin cross country teams ran well into the night Saturday and into the early morning of Sunday in the team’s season opener at the Brooks Twilight Classic at the Mike Rose Complex.
As remnants of Hurricane Isaac passed through the area, the competition — originally scheduled to begin at 8:40 p.m. — was delayed until approximately 10:50, when the women ran the course.
The men’s portion of the race didn’t begin until nearly 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Out of 185 competitors on the women’s side, the Skyhawks were led by senior Amanda Wardlaw, who placed 30th in the 5K with a time of 20:07.40.
Samantha Hunt (21:33.63) was next to cross the finish line for UT Martin, followed by freshmen Kaycee Grimes and Alexandra Stover slotting back-to-back finishes with times of 21:45.36 and 21:47.04, respectively.
Laura Wind (22:01.94) and Kathryn Skaggs (22:02.93) finished within one second of each other, while Grace Lucas (23:41.21) and Abby Frantom (24:35.34) rounded out the pack.
“After nearly a three-hour delay and a rain soaked course, Amanda put in a start by pacing to the top leader while our other four scorers came in a tight pack, including three freshmen,” Skyhawk head coach Gordon Sanders said. “The freshmen raced smart. Now we need to gain a good amount of fitness to add to the solid opener.”
On the men’s side, freshman Justin Morgan’s time of 22:31.55 led the Skyhawks with a 55th place finish (out of 208 runners).
Senior Ryan Pett posted a time of 23:01.49, followed by back-to-back finishes out of Vance Pounders (23:31.73) and Tallon Scott (23:32.75).
Josiah Roberts (24:22. 02), Trevor Hancock (25:39.27), Mark Graubner (25:50.31) and Zach Phifer (26:08.85) also produced solid finishes for the Skyhawks.
“A rookie did well on the men’s side as Justin ran to our No. 1 spot,” Sanders said.
“No one had a bigger training summer than Justin and it showed this weekend, but we have quite a bit of training that still needs adding. The next couple of races will just be part of that training.”
UT Martin will resume its fall schedule on Friday when it heads to Chattanooga for the Powerade Invite. The event is slated to begin at 5:45 p.m.
Bethel competes
Sarah Hatler, former cross country runner for Dresden High School, posted a time of 24:29.10 in her first collegiate meet at Memphis.
Running for Bethel, she placed 168th out in the women’s meet.
As a team, the Lady Wildcats were 21st in the 21-team field. Published in The WCP 9.4.12

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