CLINTON, Miss. – Louisiana Tech men's cross country team recorded its third straight meet victory to open the 2020 season, placing five runners inside the top 15 at Saturday morning's Watson Invitational.
Riley Killian paced the Lady Techsters with a ninth-place finish in the meet held at Choctaw Trails.
Graduate student
Austin Ballow (25:37.7) paced the Bulldogs with a fifth-place finish in the men's 8K race. Junior
Josiah Perez (25:53.0) and redshirt senior
Conner Killian (25:58.1) placed eighth and ninth, respectively, to put three 'Dogs into the top 10. Junior
William Harrell (26:10.3) and senior
John Barham (26:20.6) finished 12
th and 15
th for the men's team.
The Bulldogs recorded a team score of 30 to secure the win. Tech held off Mississippi College, who finished second with a team score of 36. Union University (Tenn.) placed third with a team score of 90.
Senior
Mason Youberg (26:27.0/17
th), sophomore
Logan Bailey (27:33.5/30
th), sophomore
Trent Terminie (28:19.4/48
th) and freshman
Joshua Raiford (28:42.9/53
rd) rounded out the Bulldogs' performance on Saturday.
"The men could've run a little harder and faster in today's meet, but I thought
Josiah Perez really stepped up for us today," head coach
Gary Stanley said. "We were capable of a bigger effort, but we will have two weeks to prepare for conference. It's not common to run three straight weekends like we have."
Riley Killian's ninth-place finish (19:10.3) in the women's 5K race marks her third straight meet placing inside the top 10. Junior
Callie Ezell (20:56.6) and senior
Elise Bordlee (22:31.4) finished 31
st and 58
th, respectively, for the Lady Techsters.
"Riley bounced back and had a great effort today on a tough surface," Stanley said. "I was pleased with her performance."
Mississippi College earned the team title on the women's side with a score of 19.
The Bulldogs and Lady Techsters will take a weekend off before heading to Montevallo, Alabama, for the Conference USA Championships on Oct. 31.
For all the latest on Louisiana Tech cross country, follow on Twitter at @LATechTFXC and at LATechSports.com.
