After 150 Kentucky Derbys, Louisville Knows Sports

Michigan Women, North Central Men Dominate Team Scoring

Louisville, Ky, – September 29, 2018 – The Louisville Sports Commission Cross Country Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious college meets in the U.S., took on a local flavor this year as University of Louisville female and male runners took individual honors in the feature races while Eastern Kentucky women and University of Kentucky men took second in the feature race team scoring. One the national front, the no. 10-ranked Michigan (NCAA Division I) women’s team won the feature race in a dominating fashion and the North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) men’s team, ranked no. 1 in NCAA Division III, won the men’s feature race.

A total of six college races were contested during the 17^th annual Louisville Cross Country Classic under ideal weather and course conditions at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park with 2,500 runners from 100 colleges.

In the men’s feature eight-kilometer race, UofL’s Emmanuel Cheboson took the lead at the five-kilometer mark and went on to dominate the field with a time of 23:41.1. “I felt strong all week in practice and was ready for today,” Cheboson said. “My aim was to go out strong from the start and run my best time, which I did, so I’m very happy.”

UK’s Brennan Fields finished second in the men’s feature race with a time of 23:45.0; Ben Varghese of East Tennessee State finished third at 23:48.4.

In the men’s feature race team standings, North Central edged out UK 102 to 110 by placing five runners in the top 35, led by fourth place finisher Dhruvil Patel. UK placed five runners in the top 50, all of whom ran cross country at Kentucky high schools. Belmont finished third with 117 points and UofL finished fourth with 155.

In the women’s feature six-kilometer race, UofL’s Dorcas Wasike took the lead at the mid-point and pulled away from the field with two kilometers to go to win going away. Her time of 16:27.8 was one second off the course record. “The race was tight and I just tried to push it hard all the way as my coaches’ told me,” Wasike said. “It was great being on my home course with fans and teammates cheering for me.”

Hannah Steelman of Wofford finished second with a time of 16:38.5 and Purity Sanga of Tennessee Tech was third at 16:41.3.

The Michigan’s women team won the feature race with a score of 46, placing three runners in the top eight and five runners in the top 18. The Wolverines were led by Avery Evenson, who finished fifth with a time of 16:45.7. Eastern Kentucky finished second with a score of 120 and SMU was third at 160. EKU was led by 13th place finisher Gladys Cheruiyot and 15^th place finisher Lilian Kiborus.

In the men’s second race, St. Francis (IL) finished first with 146 points, ahead of Mississippi College (173) and Southwest Baptist (228). Joseph Humes of Hillsdale College won the second race with a time of 24:17.8. Dominic Patacsil of Wabash College was second (24:20) and Jesse Saxton of Indiana Wesleyan was third (24:45.8).

The women’s second race also was dominated Michigan as Wolverine runners finished 1-2-3-5-9 to earn a team score of 20. Hope College finished second (154) and Southwest Baptist was third (183).  Raquel Powers (17:45.1), Rachael Coleman (17:50.5) and Faith Reynolds (17:51.9) of Michigan ran 1-2-3.

In the men’s third race, Indiana University Runner’s Club finished first with 25 points. Georgia College was second with 93 points and Hanover was third with 175. Robert Murphy, running unattached, finished first with a time of 25:21.6. Jared Reckard (25:42.8) and Matthew Flaherty (25:46.2) of the Indiana University Running Club finished second and third.

In the women’s third race, Georgia College (154) edged out Hope College (163) with St. Francis (Ind.) third (217). Alyssa Campbell of Point Park finished first with a time of 18:38.4. Madison Paquette of Cleary was second (18:44.3) and Emily Wagoner of Indiana University Running Club was third (18:45.5).