KETTERING, Ohio – The Morehead State men’s and women’s cross country teams kicked off the 2009 season today at the Meier Dayton Flyer 5K at Indian Riffle Park in Kettering, Ohio. The men were led by junior James Bowens with a 19th place finish, in a time of 15:59.00. Juniors Matt Dotson and Josh Wakeman placed in the top 30 with times of 16:14.00 and 16:15.00. The Eagle men’s team finished fourth overall.
“I thought our effort and attitude were outstanding. We know we have some work to do, but we know what we need to work on.” said coach Tommy Barksdale. “This was probably the best team I have ever coached in a race as far as their attitude. Every single person, if I asked them to do something, they listened and they did it. Like I said, our effort was great, we just need to focus on improving as individuals and the positive results for the team will come after that.”
Junior Mike Settles finished in with a time of 16:23.00. Eagle senior Brian Knight finished with a time of 16:37.00. Freshman runners Jeffery Covington and Patrick Fouch finished with times of 17:25.00 and 17:35.00 respectively. Rounding out the Eagle men was junior J.D. Shrader who finished with a time of 17:49.00.
The Eagle women were led by senior Alexis King who finished in 25th place with a time of 19:45.00. The Eagle women finished in sixth place overall as a team.
A trio of freshmen ran for the Eagles who included Holly Mandzak, Natalie Norman, and Kate Bomar. Mandzak finished with a time of 20:42.00. Norman and Bomar finished with times of 21:25.00 and 22:51.00 respectively.
The University of Dayton finished first in the men’s meet and second in the women’s meet, and Miami University finished second for the men’s meet and first in the women’s meet.
The Eagle men’s and women’s cross country teams are back in action Sept. 19 in Nashville, Tenn., at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic.
