Cross Country Splits Action Between Alabama and Kentucky
October 15, 2015 | Cross Country
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After a two-week break, the Mississippi State cross country teams return to action this Friday and Saturday splitting action between Alabama and Kentucky.
In the last meet, the women's team brought home a second-place victory at the Panorama Farms Invite, the team's highest finish so far this season. Now the team will head to Louisville, Kentucky, for the Pre-NCAA 6K meet Saturday morning.
“This is a great opportunity for the team to race against some very talented teams,” MSU coach Houston Franks said. “I feel if we run strong as a pack, our women have a great chance of finishing high and showing other teams we are here to compete.”
The women's race will take place at 9:15 a.m. CT at the E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park. This will be the same course where the NCAA Championships are set to take place on Nov. 21. MSU will be facing off with the top teams in the country, including eight teams from the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. SEC foes Georgia and Kentucky will also be competing.
Ten women are slated to compete for the Maroon and White Saturday, including Marta Freitas, who has finished in the No. 1 spot for MSU in the past two meets. Her season-best time came at the Commodore Classic, where she finished second overall with a time of 17:02.20.
After making her season debut at the Panorama Farms Invite, junior All-American Rhianwedd Price will appear in her second meet of the season. Price ran a time of 17:41.00 in Virginia to finish 17th.
Cornelia Griesche, Lisa Ziegler and Mia Meydrich have all three been constant finishers in MSU's Top 5 this season and will all be running Saturday.
Ffion Price, Antonia Hehr, Shannon Fair and Kristy Terp are also set to compete in this weekends meet.
While the women travel to Kentucky, the men's squad will make a short trip to Tuscaloosa for the Crimson Classic 8K. The men are set to run Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Harry Pritchett Running Park against 30 other teams. In this meet last year, the men finished 12th.
Seniors Andrew Monaghan and Mathew Dunn have been leaders on the course all season long and are both set to compete in Tuscaloosa.
Also representing the men's squad will be Branden Nosker, Emilio Perco, JT Mackay, Tristan Orman, Pierce Rose, Quintin Reiser, Zach Weaver and Caden Foos.
In Virginia for the Panorama Farms Invite, the men finished 11th with 303 points. Andrew Monaghan led the way with a 45th-place finish.
This will be the last regular season meet before post season for both teams. Up next will be the SEC Championships Oct. 30 in College Station.
For more information on the MSU cross country teams visit HailState.com and follow on Twitter (@HailStateTF).
