Women's Cross Country Competes at Greater Louisville Classic

The Brescia University Men and Women's Cross Country teams raced in the Greater Louisville Classic Sept. 29, which is one of the largest cross country meets hosted in the United States each year.

After the men's race finished, the women's 5k silver race kicked off at 12:45 p.m. ET. Women's team captain Madeline Jones (SO, Mount Carmel, Ill.) finished first for the Lady Bearcats, with a time of 22:32.6. Jones said, "Today was not my best race; the course had dramatically changed since last year and it was difficult to focus on my pace while trying to figure out how much of the course was left."

Autumn Tonkins (JR, Evansville, Ind.) ran a huge PR of 23:53.3. Tonkins said, "It felt great. I saw my time last race and I knew what I was capable of. I set a goal and I met it." Tonkins went on to emphasize that couldn't have done it without her coaches and teammates cheering her on.

The Bearcats competed in the last of the collegiate races for the day. The Gold and Blue races, respectively, started before the Silver. While the weather was the nearly pristine racing conditions (70 degrees), the course was slightly muddy and sloppy due to the other races. Jones said, "The course overall was decent. Having been the 6th race of the day, the low areas were muddy." She went on to say, "In the end, I enjoyed the course more than last year and look forward to going back."

"On the women's side Madeline ran a strong race, very constant to where she has been all season. Autumn ran a PR, dropping around 40 seconds from her previous best last year. We have five weeks to continue to work and get where we want to be by the RSC Championships," Head Coach, Luke Stoffel said.

The Men and Women's Bearcats will compete against on Oct. 6th when they co-host the Fast Cats Classic at Yellow Creek Park.

By Kyle Robinson, Sports Editor