OWENSBORO - Junior Janelle Avery finished eighth to lead Austin Peay State University womens cross country team at the Fast Cats Classic, Saturday, at Yellow Creek Park.

Avery led the Lady Govs for the second consecutive race, finishing the five-kilometer course in 18:55.52. She was 24 seconds off the winning pace set by Belmont's Nicole Muldowney, who finished the race in 18:21.71.

However, she was the only Lady Govs runner to finish among the top 15 and Austin Peay finished fourth in the eight-team race. Southern Indiana won the women's race with its five scoring runners finishing the race third through seventh.

"I believe we took a step backwards today," said APSU head cross country coach Doug Molnar. "Our top two ran very solid - Janelle looked the best she has and a long, long time, which was nice to see. We have some work ahead of us before the conference meet."

Freshman Xiamar Richards finished 17th overall with a time of 19:20.51. Freshman Kendra Kirksey followed in 26th (20:21.91) and freshman Miranda Weed was 30th (20:34.45). Junior Alyssa Molnar completed the team's top five in 49th place overall (22:11.32). The Lady Govs final three runners - freshmen Kayla Satterly (60th, 22:58.96), Megan Barbarotto (61st, 23:03.29) and Shannon Christian (62nd, 23:06.31) - finished one behind the other.

Austin Peay returns to action at the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships, Sat., Oct. 30 in Cookeville, hosted by Tennessee Tech.

- AP -