Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, September 30
Louisville, Ky.
9:30 AM
Eastern Michigan University
at
Live in Lou XC Classic
Women's Cross Country Places Third at the Live in Lou XC Classic, Men Place 17th
9/30/2023 12:23:00 PM | Men's XC, Women's XC
Eight Eastern Michigan runners earned career-best times
LOUISVILLE, KY. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University cross country programs competed against a 100-plus team field Saturday, Sept. 30. The women's squad placed third in the College Women 5K Gold Division, scoring 155 points while the men finished 17th in the College Men 8K Gold Division, posting 494 points, respectively, at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park.
"It was a good day for us. Our front runners did a nice job of putting themselves in the race and battling with the lead group. It was exciting to put three runners in the top-17. Paige Marchant had a strong first race as a freshman. Some of our other scorers did not get out well but they did a great job of moving up throughout the race. I'm pleased with the progress that we've made and excited to keep moving forward during this second half of the season," said Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Sue Parks.
Esme Davies (Lake District, England/Queen Elizabeth Grammar School) paced the Eagles, registering her third straight top-five finish and personal-record time of the season as she placed fourth individually in 17:05.9. Freshman Paige Marchant (London, Ontario/Cholic Central) excelled in her first collegiate race, finishing 11th in a blistering 17:17.6, Marchant was one of just four under classmen to finish inside the top-15 along with Clemson University's Gladys Chepngetich (1),West Texas A&M's Sarah Koomson (3), and Grand Valley State University's Lauren Kiley (5).
Marta Moreno (Wassenaar, Netherlands/American School of The Hague) was the third Eagle to cross the finish line as the junior finished 17th in a personal-best 5K time, 17:26.3. Senior Sofia Ivanko (Buenos Aires, Aregentina/St. Matthew's College) was next for the Green and White, placing 59th in 18:01.
Racing in her first collegiate 5K, Anita Zaro (Timisoara, Romania/Faculty of Physical Education and Sport) placed 70th, running a 5:49/mile pace and finishing the course in 18:05.9. Missing a career time by a mere .6 seconds was senior Tabatha Walford (Northamptonshire, England/Bishop Stopford/Nevada) who concluded her outing in 18:11.9, finishing 81st.
Joining Davies and Moreno with a personal-record performance Saturday morning was sophomore Kiera Hansen (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) who triumphed over her previous career-best (19:56) by four seconds as she finished in 19:52.3. Freshman Destiney Rose also notched a PR running a 6:25 pace for a finish in 19:58.4.
"We got some much needed experience with our young squad," said men's Head Coach Mark Rinker. "We are looking forward to the next race in Texas."
Senior Marcus Kemp (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's Kitchener) led the men's flock at the Lou, placing 34th out of 380 student-athletes, in 24:22.5. Strolling in roughly 30 seconds behind Kemp came a pair of EMU underclassmen, Lachlan Cornelius (Queensland, Australia/Anglican Church Grammar School) and Sam Peterson (Charlevoix, Mich./Charlevoix). Cornelius placed 80th and crushed his previous personal-best by over a minute, as the freshman ran the 8K course in 24:49.9.
Following suit with Cornelius, Peterson also earned a career-best time at the Lou, completing the race in 24:51.6 and finishing 82nd individually. Along with Cornelius and Peterson, freshman Isaac Garcia (Greely, Colo./South County) ran a career race as the first-year Eagle clocked in at 143rd in 25:19.
Competing in his first collegiate 8K, Ronan Codyre (Auckland, New Zealand/Macleans College) came in 19 spots behind Garcia in 25:33. After competing in the first 8K of his college career in EMU's last outing at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Open, Sept. 15, it did not take long for freshman Kian Wiles (Hull, England/St. Mary's College) to improve upon that time as he set a personal-best time at the Lou clocking in at 25:50.6.
Yet another freshman would have a standout day with Carson Vanderschaaf (Marquette, Mich./Marquette Senior) rounding out the personal-best times of the race as the native of Michigan's upper peninsula finished in 26:37.9, comfortably beating his previous-best time of 27:05.7 in the Eagles' last race at the Mel Brodt.
Women's Team Results
"It was a good day for us. Our front runners did a nice job of putting themselves in the race and battling with the lead group. It was exciting to put three runners in the top-17. Paige Marchant had a strong first race as a freshman. Some of our other scorers did not get out well but they did a great job of moving up throughout the race. I'm pleased with the progress that we've made and excited to keep moving forward during this second half of the season," said Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Sue Parks.
Esme Davies (Lake District, England/Queen Elizabeth Grammar School) paced the Eagles, registering her third straight top-five finish and personal-record time of the season as she placed fourth individually in 17:05.9. Freshman Paige Marchant (London, Ontario/Cholic Central) excelled in her first collegiate race, finishing 11th in a blistering 17:17.6, Marchant was one of just four under classmen to finish inside the top-15 along with Clemson University's Gladys Chepngetich (1),West Texas A&M's Sarah Koomson (3), and Grand Valley State University's Lauren Kiley (5).
Marta Moreno (Wassenaar, Netherlands/American School of The Hague) was the third Eagle to cross the finish line as the junior finished 17th in a personal-best 5K time, 17:26.3. Senior Sofia Ivanko (Buenos Aires, Aregentina/St. Matthew's College) was next for the Green and White, placing 59th in 18:01.
Racing in her first collegiate 5K, Anita Zaro (Timisoara, Romania/Faculty of Physical Education and Sport) placed 70th, running a 5:49/mile pace and finishing the course in 18:05.9. Missing a career time by a mere .6 seconds was senior Tabatha Walford (Northamptonshire, England/Bishop Stopford/Nevada) who concluded her outing in 18:11.9, finishing 81st.
Joining Davies and Moreno with a personal-record performance Saturday morning was sophomore Kiera Hansen (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) who triumphed over her previous career-best (19:56) by four seconds as she finished in 19:52.3. Freshman Destiney Rose also notched a PR running a 6:25 pace for a finish in 19:58.4.
"We got some much needed experience with our young squad," said men's Head Coach Mark Rinker. "We are looking forward to the next race in Texas."
Senior Marcus Kemp (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's Kitchener) led the men's flock at the Lou, placing 34th out of 380 student-athletes, in 24:22.5. Strolling in roughly 30 seconds behind Kemp came a pair of EMU underclassmen, Lachlan Cornelius (Queensland, Australia/Anglican Church Grammar School) and Sam Peterson (Charlevoix, Mich./Charlevoix). Cornelius placed 80th and crushed his previous personal-best by over a minute, as the freshman ran the 8K course in 24:49.9.
Following suit with Cornelius, Peterson also earned a career-best time at the Lou, completing the race in 24:51.6 and finishing 82nd individually. Along with Cornelius and Peterson, freshman Isaac Garcia (Greely, Colo./South County) ran a career race as the first-year Eagle clocked in at 143rd in 25:19.
Competing in his first collegiate 8K, Ronan Codyre (Auckland, New Zealand/Macleans College) came in 19 spots behind Garcia in 25:33. After competing in the first 8K of his college career in EMU's last outing at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Open, Sept. 15, it did not take long for freshman Kian Wiles (Hull, England/St. Mary's College) to improve upon that time as he set a personal-best time at the Lou clocking in at 25:50.6.
Yet another freshman would have a standout day with Carson Vanderschaaf (Marquette, Mich./Marquette Senior) rounding out the personal-best times of the race as the native of Michigan's upper peninsula finished in 26:37.9, comfortably beating his previous-best time of 27:05.7 in the Eagles' last race at the Mel Brodt.
Women's Team Results
1. Grand Valley State 58
2. Adams State 95
3. Eastern Michigan 155
4. Louisville 224
5. Purdue 275
Women's Individual Results
4. Esme Davies 17:05.9
11. Paige Marchant 17:17.6
17. Marta Moreno 17:26.3
59. Sofia Ivanko 18:01
70. Anita Zaro 18:05.9
81. Tabatha Walford 18:11.9
117. Faith Rono 18:30.9
127. Mackenzie Morgan 18:33.1
243. Chloie Musta 19:25.4
259. Laisette Rachal 19:34.6
285. Kiera Hansen 19:52.3
289. Destiney Rose 19:58.4
Men's Team Results
1. Grand Valley State 104
2. Adams State 105
3. Purdue 160
4. West Texas A&M 164
5. North Central 19
17. Eastern Michigan 494
Men's Individual Results
34. Marcus Kemp 24:22.5
80. Lachlan Cornelius 24:49.9
82. Sam Peterson 24:51.6
143. Isaac Garcia 25:19
182. Ronan Codyre 25:33
191. Joey Furlong 25:37.3
195. Linus Vennemann 25:38.9
223. Kian Wiles 25:50.6
285. Grant Sweningson 26:25.1
309. Carson Vanderschaaf 26:37.9
352. Aaron Schweiterman 27:19.6
Up next for the Eagles is a pair of meets taking place on the same day. One half of the men's and women's teams will head to College Station, Tex. for the Arturo Barrios Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M University. The remaining EMU harriers will make a shorter trip to Bowing Green, Ohio, for the second time in the 2023 campaign, for the Falcon Invitational, hosted by Bowling Green State University, Oct. 13. Race details will be announced at a later date.
To stay up-to-date on all things Eastern Michigan cross country and track & field, be sure to follow the teams on X (@EMUXC_TF), Instagram (@EMUXC_TF) and Facebook (@EMUXCTF).
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's XC
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