Cross country travels to compete at Tuscaloosa

The Troy cross-country team traveled to Tuscaloosa to compete in the Crimson Classic on Friday, Oct. 17. The event was a “Power of Pink” event and was part of the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month that takes place in October.

The women’s team placed 22nd place overall out of 33 competitors, including Sun Belt rivals South Alabama, Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe. The team finished with a score of 582 points.

In the women’s 5K, junior Julia Ostendorf finished the best out of the Trojans with a time of 18:56.07. Teammates and sophomores Mikayla Hodges and Samantha Smith set personal records at the meet. Hodges finished closely behind Ostendorf, with a time of 18:57.87, and Smith followed, completing the 5k in 19:49.36.

The men’s team had 31 teams to race against, including Sun Belt contenders Louisiana-Monroe and South Alabama. The team as a whole placed 25th, scoring 735 points.

Freshmen Joe Geise and Dylan Ogburn led the way for the Trojans. Geise set a new personal best with 28:11:87, while Ogburn was not far behind, finishing at 28:14.23. The next Trojan to cross the finish line was sophomore Sean Kent with a time of 28:28.93.

The cross-country team will be competing next in the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Sunday, Nov. 2, in Mobile.