Cross Country Opens Season at Soybean Invitational, Racer Women Finish Second

Friday, September 3

Martin, Tenn.

6:50 p.m.

Murray State

UT Martin

Photo by: Justine Ertl - Murray State Athletics

Cross Country Opens Season at Soybean Invitational, Racer Women Finish Second

9/3/2021 10:49:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results - Women Results - Men

Murray State competed at UT Martin’s Soybean Invitational on Friday night.

The Murray State men's and women's cross country teams opened its 2021 season on Friday night at UT Martin's Soybean Invitational. The women finished second in the 3-mile run, while the men came in fourth in the 4-mile.

"The meet went very well! As a team I am really happy with our women's 2nd place finish. I think that should build their confidence moving forward as they set higher goals for conference," said distance coach Jordan Johnston.

Senior Dani Wright paced the women as she crossed the line in third in the women's 3-mile. The St. Louis, Mo. native finished in 17:33.8. Junior Jessica Stein finished just behind Wright in fourth with a time 17:50.7.

Breanna Day placed 11th followed by Hope Ware and Ainsley Smith, making their collegiate debuts, rounded out the top five women for the Racers.

"Breanna Day really stepped up today as a strong number 3. She showed a lot of grit after a fast first mile and I hope she continues that mentality throughout the season. Senior Sophie Grogan had an amazing breakthrough today. While the course was shorter than our typical race distance (3 miles instead of 5k), her converted time would have been a 20+ second personal best!" said Johnston.

For the men, sophomore transfer, Vicente Correia, took the top place for the Racers, crossing the line in ninth with a time of 20:05.6. Caleb Kawasaki and Jorge Ruiz had a sprint finish, coming in at 20:30.5 and 20:30.8, respectively.

Jordan Higgins and Nathan Quinn completed the top five for the Racer men.

"The men had good individual performances with Vicente and Jorge running PRs for the 4 mile race. Jordan Higgins finished as our number 4 guy and passed a good number of people in the second half of the race. I think he's going to do some big things this season. I am excited to see what the men do in an 8k next week at North Alabama," said Johnston.

UP NEXT
The Racers next heads in Florence, Alabama for the North Alabama Invitational on Sept. 17.