CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.- Running in their final meet before the Atlantic Sun Conference championship, the men’s cross country team finished in second at the UTC Front Runner Invitational Saturday afternoon. This is the second time the team has competed on the Moccasin Bend Race Course this season after coming in second during the UTC Power Ade Invitational.

Competing against regional competition in UTC and Samford, the men ran a different type of race since the course was a 5k versus their usual 8k. Several of the runners set new personal records for a 5k which for head cross country coach Stan Sims is a sign of good things to come.

“The guys all raced really well after an extremely tough week of training,” Sims said. “Our top four guys all had personal records on the 5k course which is always encouraging to see at this point of the season. It’s also a good sign because the guys pushed the pace today which is a positive thing going into conference. Hopefully, the team just keeps progressing as we make our way into the conference championship.”

Nabil Hamid crossed the finish line first for the Owls with a time of 15:15, beating his personal record by a minute and six seconds. Running most of the race as a trio, Hamid, Jaakko Nieminen and Piotr Witczak finished 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Nieminen (15:19) and Witczak (15:24) also broke their 5k personal records.
 
Coming in right behind the top three was Ryan Burruss in eighth at 15:45, slicing ten seconds off his time from earlier this season. Rounding out the top five was Zach Tupper who came in 15th with a time of 16:12. The time was an improvement of five seconds from earlier this season.

“I feel really good about the race we had because I was able to work with Jaakko throughout most of it,” Hamid said. “I was also able to beat my personal record in the 5k by over a minute which to me is amazing. We have conference and regional up next which we should perform well in so today was just a good reminder of what lies ahead.”

Next up for the Owls will be a visit to USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. for the Atlantic Sun Conference championship Oct 30.


Team Results

1. Univ. of Tennessee-Chattanooga- 36 points

2. Kennesaw State- 38 points

3. MTSU-58 points

4. Samford Univ. - 95 points

5. West Georgia- 115 points

6. Tennessee State- 168 points

7.Trevvecca Nazarene- 194 points



Individual Results

4. Nabil Hamid (15:15)

5. Jaakko Nieminen (15:19)

6. Piotr Wiczak (15:24)

8. Ryan Burruss (15:45)

15. Zach Tupper (16:12)

19. Dylan Swafford (16:27)

24. Andrew Greeson (16:42)

26. Cole Jackob (16:46)

29. Steve Murray (16:59)

32. Matt Weiden (17:21)

35. Gianni Catalono (17:52)

38. Kyle Pearson (18:35)

39. Mike Guntner (19:04)