HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Five hours south of Indianapolis, the UIndy cross country teams set out to finish their regular season a high note, tackling the UAH Charger Invitational. The men's 8K and the women's 5K both featured a field of 33 schools from all around the country. The women's team, led by stellar performances one through seven, finished in seventh place. while the men's team wrapped up their day in 17th.

The women's squad were led once again by a quality race by Claire Eaton, who with a eighth-place finish in 17:37.64 would set the pace for the Hounds. Not far behind was Melissa Spencer (18:17:58), who crossed the line in 37th. Eline Pinter (18:39.75) and Mariah Davis (18:55.09) finished within 10 spots of each other with Pinter in 53rd and Davis in 63rd. Another Mariah came in next, as Mariah Judy crossed in 70th with a time of 19:02.52.

To round out the Hounds top seven it was Hanna Stamm (19:09.29) and Hannah Stein (19:13.67) in 76th and 82nd, respectively.

For the men's side of the team, Chris Switzer followed up his performance from Louisville last Saturday with yet another PR in the 8K, this time being in 24:47.52 to net him 38th place. AJ Goecker crossed the line next for the Hounds with a time of 25:46.35 in 83rd. Andrew Bixler (26:06.60) and Noah Kurtz (26:20.10) kept close to each other with a pair of finishes in 103rd and 110th.

Will Reid (26:32.76), Ben Nagel (26:34.37) and Blake Ellis (26:38.88) rounded out the top seven for the Hounds.

HOUND BYTES
Head Coach Brad Robinson on the team's performance...
"We raced 12 on both sides and we had eight men and eight women, so two-thirds of the team we traveled got lifetime bests. So it was a good day for us...  it was a super deep field on the men's side; I believe there was at least five to seven teams that were nationally ranked or receiving national votes before the race for Division II." 

Robinson on the teams progress this year...
"Just really happy with the progress that nobody's backing down. The athletes got out right away. We've kind of corrected ourselves from our last few races where we were a little more hesitant, shy at the start; much more aggressive today and that kind of made the difference. I felt like we were in the mix consistently throughout the race."

Switzer on the high quality races...
"I tell my team that hey, look, this is just another day of practice. I mean, we've been through the wars, harder stuff than this. We've gone to different places that are much more difficult, so we just need to buckle down and stand out."

UP NEXT
It is GLVC Championship time for cross country. They will head to Romeoville, Ill., where Lewis University will host this year's race on Saturday, Oct. 23.