On Saturday, Oct. 1, Union University’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed in the Louisville Cross Country Classic in Louisville, Kentucky.
The men’s team ran an 8k and placed 42nd out of 45 teams and 419 runners. The team was led by sophomore Tristan Kelly, who placed 176th with a time of 26:14.
The women’s team ran a 5k and placed 41st out of 47 teams and 419 runners. Senior Chloe Veilleux was the top runner, coming in 106th place with a time of 19:14.
“From a team perspective, I think it’s been a really good season. We are definitely improving within our conference,” Micah Winn, sophomore marketing major and runner for the men’s team, said. “We are on the right track.”
Winn was optimistic in his anticipation for Union’s team, both as a collective and for the individuals. Going up against many different conference levels in Louisville seemed to have boosted the team’s competitive edge.
“We are at the point where the next two weeks is going to be our hardest training of our whole season,” Winn said. “We have a lot of hope for our personal team to each get records and work as a team.”
Mary Scott Tritt, sophomore biology major and runner for the women’s team, noted that training has been different this year compared to others.
“We all have a partner this year,” Tritt said. “In years past there will sometimes be one girl that’s really good and she’s out in the front and then we’re all staggered, but this year every girl has a partner that we can pace off of and work together to push us, which is awesome.”
Both Winn and Tritt made optimistic remarks toward the upcoming races, particularly the one to be held in Huntsville, Alabama.
Tritt said, “It’s a fair course. It’s not easy, it’s not insanely hard. It’s the nationals course where the girl set the 5k record on. So, I’m excited to run it and see what I can do.”
Winn had a similar response.
“That’s our first race after our biggest training load, so I think we’ll see a lot of improvement there,” he said.
The next cross-country meet will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, in Huntsville Alabama at the UAH Charger Invitational.
Photo by Union Photo Project.
