On Friday, October 13, three members of the women's cross country team and one member of the men's team competed at the Calhoun Warhawk Invitational at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park in Alabama.
Senior Lady Lion Madison Grant won the women's race, finishing the 5K distance with a time of 18:59.3, eleven seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Andrea De La Rosa of Bethel University, the reigning two-time MSC cross country champion. De La Rosa led Grant and two other runners in a pack through two miles, at which point Grant took the lead, only for De La Rosa to surge right back into the top spot. Grant answered with a surge of her own, and with around a half mile to go took the lead for good, steadily increasing the gap between them until the finish.
Regarding Grant's performance, Coach Derrick Spradlin said, "Madison ran great today. Really tough and determined. She likes racing and has been on a pretty good streak, so the goal in bringing a small group here was to give her another race experience as we get closer and closer to conference championship."
Grant's win follows a second place finish last week at the University of the Ozarks, in which she set a program record for the fastest cross country 5K, with a time of 18:32.7.
In fifth place overall was former FHU cross country standout Sloan Scott, running as an unattached runner. Scott finished with a time of 19:26.5. Ninety-nine women from more than twelve teams finished the race.
Also running for the women's team was Kiley Hughes and Marliemekenna Thompson, both of whom have missed significant time this season with injuries. Thompson, in her second collegiate race, bettered her time from last week's race by two minutes.
In the men's 8K race, senior Evan Kimes set a personal record with a time of 28:40.1, besting his previous PR from the 2021 Louisville race.
Up next for the cross country teams is the UT Southern Firehawk Invitational at McFarland Park in Florence, Alabama, on Friday, October 20.
