CLINTON, Miss. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's cross country team finished 9
th out of 22 teams at the Watson Ford Invitational hosted by Mississippi College at Choctaw Trails on Saturday morning. The Badgers placed third among the six participating NCAA Division II schools.
The Badgers finished with a total of 263 points and a combined team time of 2:17:50.12 over the 8,000-meter course. Houston Baptist University (HBU) won the team title with 66 points and a combined time of 2:09:50.92. SHC runners averaged a program third-best time of 27:34.03 while HBU runners averaged 25:58.19.
Freshman
Will Tate of Edgewood, Ky., led the Badgers with a time of 26:42.57 to finish in 37
th position and 32 points out of 171 runners for eighth best 8k time in SHC men's cross country history. Unattached runner Chandler Underwood turned in a 25:06.24 performance to win the individual title.
Also scoring for SHC were senior
Joe Butler of Kirkwood, Mo., at 27:11:20 in 48
th place for 42 points; senior
David Toups of Baton Rouge, La., in 69
th place at 27:53.92 for 60 points; freshman
TJ Gennari of Chelsea, Ala., in 72
nd place for 63 points; and sophomore
Conner Moore of Spanish Fort, Ala., came in at 75
th for 66 points in 28:04.33.
Other Badger competitors included sophomore
Elijah Paige from Gulfport, Miss., in 79
th and a time of 28:13.07; freshman
Aaron Foster of Wetumpka, Ala., in 114
th at 29:52.85 and taking a full minute off his time from last week; sophomore
Brian Pempel of Spanish Fort in 128
th position and a time of 31:07.56; junior
William Kent of Spanish Fort at 155
th in 34:37.37; and sophomore
Matthew Fonseca, Jr. of Des Allemands, La., in 169
th in a time of 40:47.43.
After the meet, SHC head coach
Craig McVey was happy with his teams' attitudes and focus, but was still looking for bigger and better things in the future. "Today both teams raced well against tough competition," he said. "We probably raced our best races of the season intensity-wise. Both teams are close to doing something special. We have two weeks to get ready for our conference meet and we need every day ahead."
The Badgers begin their 2019 postseason on Friday, October 25, at the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Cross Country Championships at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.
