The Central Arkansas cross country teams competed at the ASUN Championship meet in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday, with both the women’s and men’s teams finishing in fifth place.
On the women’s side, Madeline Hill led the team with a personal best time of 17:00.8, securing 11th place and earning a Second Team All-ASUN selection. Arizona Blankenship finished her 5k race in 17:26.1, placing 19th and receiving a Third Team All-ASUN selection. Abby Machesky achieved a personal best of 17:40.3 for 29th place. Sequoya Prentice took 38th with a time of 17:57.4. Freshmen Lydia Butler and Liz Browning completed their first ASUN Championship races at 18:14.4 and 18:15.6, earning 40th and 42nd places respectively. Alexis Frick finished at 18:32.6, Kayli Myers at 18:44.2, and Brooklyn Nicholson at 19:34.1.
Bear’s head coach Josey Weaver commented on the team’s performance:
“We ran the best race of our season today. For that to happen at the Conference Championship is very rewarding for our young team. I am very happy for Madeline [Hill] and Arizona [Blankenship] for being named to the All-Conference team. With eight of our ten team members returning next year the future looks bright.”
For the men’s team, which improved from last year’s sixth-place finish, Jack Dingman led with a time of 24:14.3 for a 26th-place finish. Mason Bickle followed closely in 31st with a personal best of 24:43.2. Trae Baker finished in 40th place at 24:59.2; Ky Bickford set a personal best with his time of 25:03.6 to take 44th; Logan Dingman also recorded a personal best by finishing his race in 25:10.4 for 48th place; Samuel Morales completed his run in 25:31.9; Dane Janowski finished at 26:18.9; Beau Melancon set a personal record with his time of 26:28.2; William Hill also set a personal best at 26:28.7; Hayden Boyett achieved another personal record by finishing in 29:01.2.
Coach Weaver said about the men’s performance:
“Just like our women,” Weaver said, “our men also ran their best race of the season today. I’m really proud of how strong we finished the last two miles of this race. This was a jump up from a year ago after losing some of our best guys. Next for us will be the South Central Championships and we will look to cap our season on a high note.”
The NCAA South Central Championships are scheduled to take place on Friday, November 14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
For full championship results, visit the results page.
