LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Austin Peay State University women's
cross country team showed signs of improvement, finishing 23rd in the blue race
of the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic, Saturday, at E.P. Tom Sawyer
Park.
The Lady Govs were 23rd out of 34 teams in the blue race,
the second of three races at the event. Austin Peay finished ahead of Ohio
Valley Conference foes Southeast Missouri (27th) and Morehead State (30th)
which were also seeded into the blue race.
Junior Janelle Avery returned to action after missing last
week's event at Memphis and finished an impressive 49th in the 287-woman field
with a time of 19:23.70 over the five-kilometer course.
However, it was junior Alyssa Molnar's performance that
elicited the most praise from head coach Doug Molnar. The Lady Govs No. 5 has
struggled to maintain a close distance with the team's top four runners.
However, she was able to stay within sight of the team leaders, Saturday,
trailing team No. 4 Kendra Kirksey by less than one minute. Molnar finished
206th overall with a time of 21:27.27.
Freshman Xiamar Richards finished 53rd overall with a time of 19:26.64 and was
followed by freshman Miranda Weed (86th, 20:45.14) and Kirksey (151st,
20:45.15).
"I thought we performed very well today," said Molnar. "We
met several of our goals, the biggest getting the fifth finisher closer to the
front four. Nearly everybody finished today with a personal best, which is nice
to see as the season winds down."
Austin Peay will take the upcoming week off before
returning to action, Oct. 16, at the Fast Cats Invitational in Owensboro, Ky.l
- AP -