The Mercer men’s and women’s cross country teams took fourth place overall in the Front Runner Invitational on Saturday. The race was hosted by the University of Tennessee Chattanooga at Moccasin Bend in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sony Prosper led the men’s team in the 5000 meter run. He posted a 15:36.28 finish for 17th place. Junior teammate Davis Trexler followed Prosper closely, finishing in 18th place with a 15:36.78 time. The third Bear to finish in the top-25 was senior Kasib Abdullah. He posted a 15:57.99 finish time for 22nd place.
Prosper explains that he is proud of how his team has continued to push through tough races against good schools this season.
"The team is gradually progressing beautifully. We are blazing our workouts. Our last race was a 5k instead of an 8k this past week at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. In the 5k race, we set a new school record as a team. We're now looking forward to conference in two weeks," said Prosper.
He continues, saying that good finishes such as this will be a positive going into the conference championship next weekend.
"My expectations going into conference championships are to continue having the team run as a solid pack. We can do some damage that way and it will help all of us run faster. I am looking for us to continue turning heads because we always seem to be the underdogs," said Prosper.
The Women’s team was led on the two mile run by freshman Linda Wrede for the fifth consecutive meet. Wrede posted an 11:30.04 time, finishing in 7th place. Sophomore Kami Orrender followed not too far behind her and finished in ninth place with an 11:36.89 time. Senior Lena Hamvas finished in 12th place, making her the third Bear to post a top-15 finish with a time of 11:41.49.
Both teams will then return to action on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships in Nashville, Tenn.
