Wall, Hutton lead Oakland at ISU Pre-Nationals Meet
TERRE HAUTE, Ind.- Kenny Wall paced the men with a time of 25:49 for the 8K and Brittni Hutton led the women placing 58th at 22:02 for their first 6K of the season at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational. Both teams finished 31st overall on Saturday.
“This was not a great day for us,” said head coach Paul Rice. “We came out of these races pretty frustrated. Our athletes know they are much better than they showed today.”
The Oakland’s men’s cross country team had Brandon Griffin following Wall at 25:57 and crossing the finish line third was Steve Marcinkowski at 26:47. Colorado won the top spot with three runners finishing in the top 20 with a team score of 82 followed by Portland with 104 points and Iona with 109. Summit League member UMKC finished 23rd overall.
Lia Jones finished behind Hutton at 22:35 and Hannah Scherer followed Jones in the women’s race at 24:07. Cassandra Peterson finished with a time of 24:16. Florida State won the meet placing all five of their runners in the top 15 with a score of 46 followed by Georgetown with 99 points and Michigan with 158 points. OU beat out Summit League opponent IUPUI by 56 points as they placed 32nd but fell to UMKC who placed 24th overall.
“Right now we get focused on being tougher mentally on the course,” said Rice. “Mental focus is a battle for any athlete, but I believe in these athletes, and I know they will work hard over the next two weeks to be ready to compete at a high level in Tulsa.”
Oakland will compete next at the Summit League Championships in Tulsa, Okla. beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Oakland Men’s Top Finishers – 8K 31/35
114. Kenny Wall – 25:49
128. Brandon Griffin – 25:47
201. Steve Marcinkowski – 26:47
233. Calvin Magier – 27:02
235. Anthony Sterzick – 27:07
275. Jake Magier – 27:52
284. Justin Battle – 28:25
Oakland Women’s Top Finishers- 6K 31/37
58. Brittni Hutton – 22:02
106. Lia Jones – 22:35
227. Hannah Scherer – 24:07
240. Cassandra Peterson – 24:16
279. Autumn Cleverley – 25:04
288. Emma Claucherty – 25:37
301. Sarah Oren – 26:33
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