Story by Collin Morris, Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams completed their 2016 season with 24th and 20th place finishes respectively at the NCAA Southeast Regional Friday in Earlysville, Virginia.
The men’s 24th place finish came among the field of 29 teams, marking the sixth time in seven total races the team has finished in the bottom half of the standings.
Individually, the Racers were led by Gavin Galanes, junior from St. Charles, Missouri, who placed 112th with a time of 31:54, and Zach Balleau, freshman from Eureka, Missouri, who closely followed at 113th with a time of 31:59; both runners set personal records with their times.
The team did not place an individual in the top half of the individual field, as 203 total runners competed in the event.
In the women’s 6K race, the Racers posted their lowest score in program history with a 536 – earning them a 20th place finish among the field of 32.
Despite the team’s overall performance, Vallery Korir, redshirt junior from Iten, Kenya, placed 38th of 227 runners. Korir finished the race in 21:34, only 1:19 behind the race’s first place finisher. The next highest placing runners for Murray State were Meagan Smith, junior from Danville, Kentucky, and Rebekah Priddy, sophomore from Austin, Texas, who paced together and finished 101st and 102nd. Smith put up a time of 22:26, while Priddy finished a second behind at the 22:27 mark.