Cross-country teams struggle at Sun Belt Championships

The Troy cross-country teams competed in the Sun Belt Championships on Saturday, with the men’s team coming in sixth place and the women’s team finishing in 11th.

Brackin Stewart led the men’s team in the 8k with a 17th-place finish and a time of 25:52.5. Behind Stewart, three other Trojans finished in the top 25.

Sawyer Sprung finished 19th with a time of 25:59.96. Brennan Garriques and Bradley Dixon finished 23rd and 24th with times of 26:12.5 and 26:15.1, respectively.

Daniel Glick finished 42nd with a time of 27:09.8, and Thomas Ward finished 61st with a time of 28:26.9. Delaney Moore finished in 66th with a time of 29:00.0 to round out the day for the men’s team.

Coastal Carolina had the highest-finishing runner, but Appalachian State, the host school, took first place with a total time of 2:08:43. Troy’s overall time of 2:11:30 put the Trojans in sixth place.

Freshman Kara Coulter led the women’s team in the 5k with a 36th-place finish and a time of 18:55.4. Fellow freshman Christie Caruana returned from injury to finish 50th with a time of 19:13.9.

Macki Walsh, another freshman, finished 55th with a time of 19:28.4. Four Trojans — Katherine Lowe, Krystin Guirey, Erika Kulp and Michaela Ashley — finished 65th through 68th, respectively, to round out the race for the women’s team.

South Alabama had the fastest individual runner in the 5k, but Texas State took the top spot overall. Texas State had a total time of 1:30:32. Troy’s total time was 1:37:56, placing 11th out of the 12 Sun Belt teams competing.

Both teams have the weekend off before they return to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 10 for the NCAA South Regionals. The meet will be the conclusion of the cross-country season for Troy.