Nashville, TN – The Austin State University (APSU) men’s and women’s cross country team took a short trip down I-24 to Nashville for the Pretorious Invitational at Percy Warner Park on Saturday, September 16th. The men raced at 8:30pm CT after a delay, and the women followed at 9:30pm. Their results provided a bit of sunshine on a rainy Saturday morning.
The race was a preview of the same course the Atlantic Sun conference championships will be at on October 28. There were three other ASUN teams racing with the APSU Govs in Jacksonville, Lipscomb, and Central Arkansas.
“We had a conservative race plan today, and they executed it exceptionally.” said assistant coach Kendall Muhammad. “Six weeks till the conference meets on the same course, we’ll continue training hard and show up race-ready when it counts.”
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The APSU women’s team placed sixth out of eight teams in Nashville. Ashley Doyle (19:40.0) led the squad for a second straight meet, and four of the top five ladies improved their time from Ball State. Doyle was followed by Mary Kate French (20:22.4), Savannah Fruth (20:36.5), Shaye Foster (21:01.9), and Hallie Mattingly (21:02.8)
The APSU men’s team also placed sixth out of eight teams in the invitational. This was the first 8k of the year the team has run. Jackson Fowler led the way again with a time of 27:39.3 (44th). He was followed by Jake Strader (28:19.6, 53rd), Jacob Schweigardt (28:24.6. 54th), Ryan Coley (28:33.7, 55th), and Lucas Bales (29:13.1, 63rd)
Next Up For APSU Cross Country
The Austin Peay State University men’s and women’s cross country teams will return to action in two weeks, on September 30th, when they head to Louisville, Kentucky, for the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic.
