WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – It was a hot and humid day as summer seemed to return for the Indiana Intercollegiate meet on Friday afternoon at Purdue University.
The heat didn't stop the Sycamores from putting on strong performances, as the men's and women's cross country teams both placed second, with the women defeating Indiana, who was ranked No. 3 in the Great Lakes Region and No. 26 in the national rankings, and Ball State. The men defeated Indiana, but fell short of Purdue.
"The first race of the day was the women's championship and that was probably the highlight of the afternoon here at Purdue," head coach
Kyle Walsh said.
The women's team entered the competition ranked No. 13 in the Great Lakes Region, and amassed 41 points, edging out Indiana (70) and Ball State (108). They fell to Purdue, who won with 23 points.
Leading the way for the Sycamore women were senior
Taylor Austin and sophomore
Alli Workman. Austin competed with a deep Purdue team, and placed second with a time of 22:25.00. She finished 45th in the same competition last year.
"The women ran really well, led off with
Taylor Austin, who put on another solid performance, I would say a step ahead of where she was last week," Walsh said. "It was a big move for Taylor to leave the chase pack behind and put together another strong race."
Workman challenged the leaders in a stacked field and ran her best collegiate race to date, posting a time of 22:37.50 and earning a fifth place finish.
"
Alli Workman really stepped up today, and was a few strides behind Taylor. It was definitely her best collegiate race, as she got to work her way up into the mix with some really strong runners, so she's coming along very well," Walsh commented. "It's been fun to watch her get closer to working with Taylor."
Megan Doty and
Colleen Madden followed Austin and Workman, finishing 11th and 12th overall, and ninth and 10th in the Big State competition. Overall, the Sycamore women had five top 15 finishers.
"The duo of
Megan Doty and
Colleen Madden put together a really strong performance. They worked well together and you could see that they were feeding off of each other. They went out conservative and moved up the entire race, which is exactly what we talked about," Walsh said.
The men entered the contest No. 12 in the Great Lakes Regional and defeated Indiana while gaining 47 points. Purdue won the meet with 16 points.
Junior
Akis Medrano led the way for the Sycamore men, competing with the loaded Purdue squad, and placing sixth overall at 25:53.2. Behind Medrano was sophomore
Seth Cousins who tallied a 10th place finish overall with a mark of 26:32.7.
Corey Alfredson was the only other Sycamore in the top 20, crossing the finish line at 27:05.1 and finishing 17th.
"
Akis Medrano and
Seth Cousins led the way for us, and both of them had really strong performances. After that we had a little bit of a struggle.
Corey Alfredson ran number five for us last week, and today he stepped up and ran number three for us," Walsh said.
A standout performance came from freshman
Isaac Bentz, who was the fourth scorer for the Sycamore men. Bentz ran a time of 27:32.3 and finished 26th, but he is an 800-meter runner turned cross country runner. The fifth scorer for ISU was
Blake Kramer who earned a 27th place finish.
"Freshman
Isaac Bentz running number four is a huge day for him. He's an 800-meter specialist out of high school who's stepped up as a freshman in cross country who's already helping us at a varsity level. That's a big move for him," coach Walsh said. "
Blake Kramer opened up his season, he's been watching his plantar fasciitis, so we put him in trainers today and he helped us out with number five."
Indiana State will return to action on Friday, September 29 when they travel to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational.
Women's 6,000-Meter Championships Results:
1. Purdue – 23
2. Indiana State – 41
3. Indiana – 70
4. Ball State – 108
Men's 8,000-Meter Championships Results:
1. Purdue – 16
2. Indiana State – 47
3. Indiana – Inc.
Women's 6,000-Meter Championships Individual Results:
2.
Taylor Austin – 22:25.00
5.
Alli Workman – 22:37.50
11.
Megan Doty – 23:32.00
12.
Colleen Madden – 23:40.90
20.
Michaela Ward – 24:24.50
23.
Abigail Grider – 24:45.10
28.
Cami Hansen – 25:03.60
30.
Jessi Conley – 25:13.10
31.
Brittany Neeley – 25:14.00
Men's 8,000-Meter Championships Individual Results:
6.
Akis Medrano – 25:53.20
10.
Seth Cousins – 26:32.70
17.
Corey Alfredson – 27:05.10
26.
Isaac Bentz – 27:32.30
27.
Blake Kramer – 27:39.00
29.
Quentin Pierce – 27:48.70
36.
Ryan Cash – 28:09.80
38.
Ryan Kritzer – 28:13.10
83.
Logan Hambrock – 30:26.50
Women's Open 6,000-Meters Individual Results:
7.
Emma Hayward – 24:28.80
9.
Danielle Muse – 24:56.50
13.
Aleksey Green – 25:31.00
16.
Rebecca Odusola – 26:07.90
20.
Lexus Brittingham – 27:18.70
Men's Open 8,000-Meters Individual Results:
9.
Kyle Collins – 27:41.40
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook and
Twitter.
