Men’s XC takes second in Jacksonville

The Trojan’s men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their seasons with a meet at Oxford Lake hosted by Jacksonville State University on Friday.

The women’s 4k team placed seventh out of eight in the Red division with a total time of 1:19:32 and an average time of 15:54. Troy’s best finish came from senior Samantha Smith of Sonora, California, with a time of 15:04.80 that earned her 16th place.

The next Trojan to cross the finish line was junior and Huntington Beach, California, native Sara Zylstra, with a time of 15:42.80. Freshman Katherine Lowe of Pickerington, Ohio, began her collegiate cross-country career with a finish of 15:50.70, earning her 50th place out of 160 runners.

The men’s cross country team fared much better than their counterparts, finishing second overall in the 5k run. The Trojans finished with a total time of 1:19:53 and an average time of 15:58.

These times were only bested by Auburn, whose total time was 1:16:45 and an average time was 15:21.

Hailing from St. Johns, Florida, sophomore Bradley Dixon finished with a time of 15:45.00 and earned 12th place. Fellow sophomore Sawyer Sprung of Tuscon, Arizona, sprang for a 14th-place finish with a time of 15:49.10.

Yet another sophomore for the Trojans took 15th place with a finish of 15:49.60. Brennan Garriques of Canton, Georgia, finished right behind Sprung. The lowest-finishing Trojan came in at 90th out of 138 participants.

For their next meet, the Trojans will travel to Mobile on Friday, Sept. 9, for the Azalea City Classic hosted by South Alabama.