Cross country takes second at USA’s Azalea City Classic

Jalen Thomas The Troy Men’s and Women’s cross-country teams both placed second at the Azalea City Classic on Friday in Mobile.The men’s team tallied 42 points during the meet, placing them behind South Alabama, the host and winner, while the women’s teams collected 44 points, placing them behind the Jags as well. The eight-kilometer race was won by senior Brackin Stewart with a time of 26:32.9. Stewart’s finish was sixteen seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The race was Stewart’s second individual victory of the year. Senior Sawyer Sprung finished in fifth place with a time of 27:10.6. Junior Daniel Glick closed out the top three finishers for Troy, finishing with a time of 27:38.7 to earn the seventh place spot. Brennan Garriques and Delaney Moore finished 12th and 17th place, respectively. “Brackin was lights out again,” said Head Coach Elliot Blount. “We had some firepower added back into the rotation and that really made a difference for us as a team performance.” On the women’s side, freshman Caroline Sall paced the Trojans as she picked up a fourth-place finish with a time of 19:28.6, improving on her time from last week. Sophomore duo Kara Coulter and Michaela Ashely finished with times of 20:04.0 and 20:30.3, good enough for seventh and ninth place, respectively. Also placing for the Trojans were senior Krystin Guirey, who placed tenth with a time of 20:46.7 and freshman Tanner Guest, who placed 14th with a time of 21:23.1. “The women executed their own race plan,” said Blount. “They got out in a certain position and was able to move up just like I hoped they would have done naturally. “Overall, both teams got an A-plus for improvement from last week, but there are still things we need to work on to perform even better.” Up next, the Trojans have two weeks off before they head back to Oxford, Alabama. There, they will race in Jacksonville State’s JSU Foothills Invitational on Saturday, September 29.