Men and Women Take Third at the Crimson Classic on Friday

Friday, October 14

Tuscaloosa, AL

Middle Tennessee

Crimson Classic

10/14/2022 11:34:00 AM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

By: Braydin Sik, MT Athletic Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Blue Raider men's and women's cross-country teams competed Friday morning at the Crimson Classic. The final regular-season race of the year was held by the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Harry Pritchett Running Course in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The women showed up and did not disappoint with a third-place finish and a total of 120 points behind the number six team in the nation, Alabama, and a top-ten South-Region team in Auburn. Four runners placed within 6.2 seconds of each other, as graduate student Joice Jebor led the way with a time of 21:08.8. Freshman Zaila Smith had a huge personal-best time of 21:15.0 in her third meet of the season with the Blue Raiders.

"I thought that the freshmen really stepped up in today's race," said Head Coach Keith Vroman. "Zaila (Smith) was lights out for us."

Senior Hillary Kimaiyo led the way for the men with an 11^th-place finish and a time of 24:19.7. Senior Habtamu Geta and sophomore Vincent Yegon both finished behind Kimaiyo with times of 24:23.6 and 24:24.2 respectively. The team as a whole took third behind a top-25 team on the men's side in Alabama and a fifth ranked South-Region team in North Florida.

"Carmelo (Cannizzaro) had a huge PR today," said Vroman. "This was a solid performance for the team all around heading into the Conference USA Championships in a couple weeks. It's going to be a lot of fun."

RACE RESULTS
Friday, October 14 | Crimson Classic | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | Harry Pritchett Running Course

Men's 8k – 100 points – 3^rd place

Place	Points	Name	Time
11	10	Hillary Kimaiyo	24:19.7
12	11	Habtamu Geta	24:23.6
13	12	Vincent Yegon	24:24.2
21	20	Koos Molutsi	24:42.4
56	47	Carmelo Cannizzaro	25:29.4
63	52	Brian Rono	25:45.1

Women's 6k – 120 points – 3^rd place

Place	Points	Name	Time
19	18	Joice Jebor	21:08.8
20	19	Lesego Mpshe	21:09.5
24	23	Naomy Limatukei	21:12.5
26	24	Zaila Smith	21:15.0
39	36	Mercy Chepkurui	21:34.3
122	95	Pamela Milano	23:37.6
147	103	Irene Jeptoo	25:00.0

Next Up
The Blue Raiders men's and women's cross country team will turn their focus to the Conference USA Championships on Saturday, October 29.

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