XC Opens Season, Placing 3rd and 11th in Memphis

Saturday, September 1

Memphis, TN / Mike Rose Soccer Complex

Women's - 9:20pm Men's - 10pm

Middle Tennessee

Brooks Twilight XC Classic

9/1/2018 11:58:00 PM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

Freshmen Lead Blue Raiders in Season Opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee cross country teams opened their seasons at the Brooks Twilight Classic on Saturday night. The Men's team, led by freshman Caden Hercules, finished 11th out of 19 teams while the women's squad, led by freshman Pamela Kosgei, placed third in the 21 team field.

MT Men - 11th place overall (343 points)

**Men's Results (4 Mile Race)**
Place	Name	Time
31st	Caden Hercules	21:17.94
54th	Nathan Mack	21:48.74
110th	Tre'von Sanders	23:00.74
114th	Alan Bowers	23:04.93
122nd	Julio Acevedo	23:21.25
146th	Harper Sigler	24:28.28

The Blue Raider Men ran without their top two returners, Kigen Chemadi and Jacob Choge, and also without a few other newcomers. Though they were shorthanded, Caden Hercules and Nathan Mack paced the team to a respectable finish in a competitive field. Hercules, the freshman, came in with the team's best finish and was the sixth freshman across the line. Mack had the other top time as the junior finished his first collegiate four mile race at a 5:27 per mile pace.

MT Women - 3rd place overall (89 points)

**Women's Results (5K Race)**
Place	Name	Time
3rd	Pamela Kosgei	17:49.93
13th	Joice Jebor	18:35.17
16th	Julia Jelagat	18:42.02
25th	Eusila Chepkemei	19:03.70
45th	Racheal Kosgei	19:30.30
59th	Rachel Kigen	19:56.37
73rd	Patience Aganwogba	20:11:15

In their first race, a new-look women's team showed that they can compete with top competition. The Blue Raiders finished third overall, but only five points behind second place Arkansas State. Additionally, MT finished ahead of Ole Miss and Mississippi State along with Conference USA foe UAB. The freshman Pamela Kosgei shined in her collegiate cross country debut as she was the first freshman to cross the line and was third overall. Joice Jebor and Julia Jelagat both finished in the top 20 and look to make the Blue Raiders a deep squad later in the season.

Up Next
After a week off, MT XC will race close to home in their next race when they make the short trip to Nashville for the Commodore Classic. The race will be hosted by Vanderbilt on Saturday, September 15th and will be run on the Vaughn's Gap Course at Percy Warner Park.