By Caleb Seaver, Contributing Writer
Photo by Caleb Seaver

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – South Alabama’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams had a couple of good individual performances last Friday, but both teams struggled overall with 13^th and 14^th place finishes, respectively, at the Crimson Classic at the University of Alabama.

The men’s 8km race was the first race of the day with host school Alabama winning a tight race with a score of 59. Missouri and Tennessee kept it very close, tying for second with a score of 63. The South Alabama men finished 13^th out of 14 teams with a score of 308.

“On the men’s side, our guys raced as well as we [could] and I was pretty impressed with the guys that placed. I think Sacha [Perrier] can be the best in the conference… Up and down the roster though, we need to see better running from our other guys that I know can do it,” said South Alabama Head Coach Parker Cowles in an interview following the race.

Individually, the men’s race was won by Alabama freshman Dennis Kipruto running a time of 23:22.1, the second-fastest time by a freshman in SEC history. South Alabama’s top finisher on the men’s side was junior Sacha Perrier, who finished 24^th overall with a personal best time of 24:12.3. 

The women’s 6km race followed the men’s race with Alabama winning with a dominant score of 28, completing the sweep of the two races. Missouri would finish second, scoring 99 with South Carolina rounding out the top three with a score of 114. The South Alabama women finished 14^th out of 18 teams with a score of 395.

“It was a perfect environment for cross country. To not only come away with both the men’s and women’s team titles, but to also claim the top-two individual finishes in both races speaks directly to the preparation, by both our programs,” said Alabama head coach Dan Waters to Rolltide.com.

The individual winner was Alabama sophomore Doris Lemngole who ran a time of 19:04.8. The top finisher for South Alabama was sophomore Charleen Elizondo with a time of 21:09.5

Since the Crimson Classic, South Alabama has looked towards the postseason. The Jags ran in the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Nov. 1 in Foley, Ala., and the NCAA South Regional Championship on Nov. 10 in Gainesville, Fla. Their next race will be the NCAA Championship, taking place on Nov. 18 in Charlottesville, Va.