TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The UIndy cross country teams were back in action on Saturday morning at the John McNichols Invitational hosted by Indiana State University.
Both the men and women placed first in the small school division, while finishing eighth and seventh overall, respectively.
"Both teams were patients and worked together in moving up throughout the entire race," UIndy XC head coach Brad Robinson said after the meet.
Mickayla Wenzel and
Lauren Bailey led the women with top-15 finishes to lead the Greyhounds to small school glory, while
Kieffer Vittetow placed 35th overall on the men's side. Vittetow was first among small school competition, with teammate
Chris Switzer rounding out the top five among non-NCAA Division I programs.
Robinson continued: "Mickayla and Lauren ran great to lead the ladies to the team victory in the small school division. For the men, we focused on racing today and took care of business."
Jacob Woodrow took just over 27 minutes to cross the finish line in 60th among all runners in the men's first 8k race of the season.
Taylor Kleyn, who was next among Hounds, finished ninth among small school and 73rd overall. Brianna Leonard also finished 60th overall for the women, while freshman
Melissa Spencer placed 68th.
The final three Hounds on the men's side who earned points for the team all finished within 20 seconds of each other, including
Nyc Sigmon (28:04) and
Danny Rockley (28:06).
Nathan Herbst squeezed into the top 100 with a pace time of 5:43.
For the women,
Madison Vauters (20:36) and
Emma Treibic (20:39) finished next to each other, while
Savannah Huben (20:46) was not far behind to round out the point-getters for UIndy.
As a team, the women defeated Division I programs Cincinnati, Marshall, and Northern Kentucky en route to their seventh-place finish on Saturday. The men, who finished eighth overall, defeated Marshall before winning the small school division.
UIndy will travel to Louisville on September 29 for the Great Louisville Classic. Last season at the event, the women placed eighth, while the men finished 11th.
