CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah University cross country program successfully hosted its Color Country Invitational at home on the Cedar Ridge Golf Course, with the women's and men's teams both taking second place. The great performance by current athletes was complemented by an impressive turnout from former SUU competitors at the alumni 2K shortly after.
Coach Eric Houle said:
"On the women's side, I feel really good as it's a really young team and we had three athletes out who I believe we'll have back for the conference championship. I feel good about where their development is and how they're coming along. On the men's side, I believe we've become a much better team. We did rest three guys who I hope to bring back for Wisconsin. I don't know if that's going to guarantee a better finish, but we do have the talent if we can keep people healthy."
Women's Recap
With a total of 57 points, the women's team finished the 4K in second place behind only a nationally touted Utah Valley University team, beating in-state competition Utah Tech University and Snow College.
Leading the women, Madisan DeBos finished in eighth place with a 14:14.6. A trio of Thunderbirds crossed the line next, with freshman Audrey Hales earning 20th at 15:00.0, freshman Lia Selander finishing 21st with a 15:00.3, and transfer Bella Evans taking 22nd at 15:02.2. Gentry Perkins rounded out the Thunderbird competition with a 15:18.3, placing 31st among the women.
Men's Recap
In the 6K, the men's team scored 47 points, also finishing behind UVU and taking second place, beating Utah Tech and Snow College.
Hayden Harward headed up the Thunderbirds with an impressive fourth-place finish at 18:31.5. Jacob Peterson joined Harward in the top ten with an 18:47.1, landing in tenth place. Coming in 19th, Travis Feeny crossed at 19:09.5. Bowen Martin and Lanse Larsen rounded out the scorers in 23rd and 27th place, with times of 19:16.5 and 19:35.3 respectively.
Alumni Race
The alumni 2K saw the return of many familiar names in the SUU cross country program. Ashley Hawks won the women's race with a time of 7:41.2. In her time as a T-Bird, she posted one of the best times in the Color Country Invitational's history.
On the men's side, Dave Sheeran, an integral part of SUU's three-straight Summit League Conference Championships from 2006-2008, finished in first place with a 6:52.8.
"SUU is awesome. I loved running here with Coach Houle," Sheeran said. "I love coming back every time he puts this on."
Up Next
Southern Utah will return to the road for Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wis. on Saturday, Oct. 19th.
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