Miami University
LSU Invitational
Men's Cross Country Wins LSU Invite
9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
BATON ROUGE, La. - Despite warm and humid conditions in unfamiliar territory, the Miami University men's cross country team produced the same result it had its first two races in 2011 - a victory - as the RedHawks won the LSU Invitational Saturday morning at Highland Road Park. It was Miami's first time ever competing at the 8K LSU Invitational, hosted by Louisiana State.
The RedHawks ran away with the team title, totaling 32 points, as all five scorers finished in the top 12. The host Tigers of the SEC finished second with 59 points while the Louisiana Running Company and Houston Baptist tied for third with 79 points. Louisiana Tech rounded out the top five with 102 points in the 14-team field.
"The course was quite tough. It's relatively flat but we're near the Mississippi River and the park has a valley in the middle of it that the course worked in and out of throughout the whole race," head coach Warren Mandrell said.
Redshirt junior David Eichenberger (Plainfield, Ind.) was Miami's top finisher and the overall runner-up, his personal-best finish, clocking 27:09.9 while junior Jarrod Eick (Hartville, Ohio) was right behind in third in 27:10.1, despite being slightly misdirected with a half mile to go. Houston Baptist's Matt Perri won the race in 26:59.9.
Redshirt sophomore Matt Marol (Evanston, Ill.) was the third RedHawk to cross, taking seventh in 27:31.7 in his season debut after returning from injury, while redshirt freshman Daniel Garleb (Pickerington, Ohio) was six ticks behind in eighth. Freshman Ryan Moncrieff (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) was Miami's fifth scorer, placing 12th in 28:16.4.
"They raced well again. They were pretty patient and worked their way though. At the mile mark or two-mile mark LSU was leading but by the three-mile mark we were winning and just ran away from there," Mandrell said. "I was very proud of them. We ran as a nice, tight group -- our one through five guys. I was very pleased with their effort in tough conditions."
Freshman James Kraus (Maumee, Ohio) took 23rd while classmate Tyler Kvach (Avon, Ohio) was 25th as Miami's other two runners in the race. Sophomore Dave Wing (Naperville, Ill.), who had been Miami's second finisher in the first two meets of the year, did not run due to injury.
The RedHawks won the Dayton Flyer 5K Challenge to start the year and captured their own Miami Open two weeks ago. Miami goes for a fourth straight team win when it looks to defend its title at the All-Ohio Championship Friday, Sept. 30 in Cedarville, Ohio.
--MURedHawks.com--
