APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – It was a welcome return to home soil for Austin Peay State University men and women’s cross country teams, who posted successful results at the third annual APSU Cross Country Invitational, Saturday, at the Hilldale Baptist Church Family Life Center.
The Governors men’s team placed 3rd in the 10-team four mile competition, while the women were fifth out of ninth place. Memphis won both the men and women’s race.
For the Govs men’s team, three runners posted top 25 finishes. Freshmen Tyler Smith (15th, 22:34) and Hezron Kiptoo (16th, 22:35) led the pack, followed by Daniel Hamm in 25th (23:13).
Rounding out the squad was senior Martin Rejman making his season debut (52nd, 24:18) and Andrew Abel (57th, 24:38).
“With Gray taking a wrong turn that hurt us, but 3rd of 10 teams isn’t too bad,” head coach Doug Molnar said. “We will keep improving. It was great to get Martin in the race, so hopefully he continues to get healthy and add to our depth.”
Senior Unjala Lester paced the APSU women’s team in the 5K, proving she’s back to full health with a 20th place finish (20:08). Junior Becca Wheeler was just behind her in 23rd (20:21), while junior Sarah-Emily Woodward placed 26th (20:32).
Junior Sarah Carpenter finished 32nd (20:50), newcomer Sarah Eskildson was 60th (23:01) in her APSU debut and senior Hanna Wise was 69th (25:06).
“The women also ran better today,” Molnar said. “It’s all about getting better meet-to-meet at this time of year and we are definitely doing that. It was great to see Unjala rounding into shape.”
Austin Peay now enters the closing stretch of its schedule, traveling to Oxford, Alabama, next Saturday for the JSU Invitational.
