Freshman Mark Venura practices agilities with the cross country team at Stewart Stadium Sept. 24.
The Murray State men’s and women’s cross country teams earned a pair of wins against Austin Peay State and Bethel Friday at the Austin Peay Invitational in Clarksville, Tenn.
The women finished with a perfect score and took every spot from first to fifth place and the men took first and second place. Individually the women were led by junior Emma Gilmore, who won the 5K race with a time of 18 minutes, 37 seconds. She was closely followed by freshman Meagan Smith who took second time 18:38, redshirt sophomore Alicyn Hester finished third, freshman Caroline Grogan finished fourth, and senior Abbie Oliver who placed fifth at 19:08.
The men were led by junior Cole Cisneros, who finished first place in the four mile with a time of 21:45. He was followed by Mark Venura who placed second with a time of 21:52.
Head Coach Jenny Severns said both the men’s and women’s teams did well in both of their races.
Cisneros and Gilmore both earned cross country runners of the week from the OVC for the first time this season.
Both teams have the week off before returning to action Oct. 3 at the Notre Dame Invitational.
“There will be eight boys and 12 girls attending the Notre Dame Invitational from Murray State,” Severns said.
The women will compete in the 5K race and the men will compete in the five mile race that will take place at the Notre Dame Golf Course in South Bend, Ind., beginning at 2 p.m.
Story by Heath Ringstaff, Contributing writer