October 11, 2014

HOT STUFF: Men sixth, women 10th at hot and steamy FSU Invitational

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Tennessee Tech men's cross country team placed sixth and the women's squad finished 10th Friday night at a hot and steamy FSU Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With Geoffrey Sambu and Yeshi Dohrmann leading the way, the Tennessee Tech men's cross country team placed sixth and the women's squad 10th Friday night at a hot and steamy FSU Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park.

"I thought that we performed well under the circumstances," said head coach Wayne Angel. "It was very hot and our legs were still heavy from last week's training. But, we still fought through it, nevertheless. As a team we gained valuable experience from this competition. We are certainly moving in the right direction."

Sambu roared through the 8K course to finish third overall, racing with the leaders right to the wire before being nipped by just three seconds for the individual championship. Matt Rice of UL-Lafayette was the individual leader in 25:16.53, while Florida State's Stanley Linton placed second in 25:17.91.

Sambu, a sophomore who transferred to Tech from Florida A&M during the summer, was third in 25:19.52, putting a full 10-second cushion behind him and the next finisher.

Sophomore Brennan Huber placed 18^th with a time of 26:20.09, while Daniel Williamson was just off his shoulder, placing 21^st in 26:33.38. Freshman Wesley King was 47^th in 28:28.31, while freshman Ian Barclay placed 58^th in 29:58.64.

As expected, host Florida State captured the team title in the men's race with 48 points, placing four runners among the first 10. UL-Lafayette was second (78), followed by Auburn (78), Florida Gulf Coast (82), Vanderbilt (112), and Tennessee Tech (147).

Rounding out the remainder of the Division I standings were South Florida (155) in seventh place, followed by Stetson (237), Florida Atlantic (254), Florida A&M (294) and Jacksonville (298).

Dohrmann ran a personal-best time and was the Golden Eagle leader in the women's race, finishing 38^th overall in 19:27.89. Freshman Lera McNamara also posted a career-best time, and led the way among Tech's other four runners, finishing 60^th in 20:41.63. Fellow freshman Anna Cooper was 62^nd in 20:44.51, followed by junior Landry Loving in 21:24.87, and freshman Baylee Balgemann in 21:42.99.

Florida State (72) also topped the Division I women's team standings, edging rival UCF (73) by a single point. South Florida (92) was third, followed by Florida A&M (111), UL-Lafayette (117), Auburn (129), Florida Gulf Coast (148), Jacksonville (196), Stetson (197) and Tennessee Tech (291).

The Golden Eagles will spend the next few weeks continuing their training in preparation for the OVC Championships, Nov. 1.