Wells, Heckman Lead WKU at Greater Louisville Classic

Saturday, October 5

Louisville, Ky.

9:45 a.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

Greater Louisville Classic

10/5/2019 2:05:00 PM | Cross Country

Men Team Results Men Individual Results Women Team Results Women Individual Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Emerson Wells and Savannah Heckman led their respective squads as WKU Cross Country closed out competition in the Greater Louisville Classic Saturday, Oct. 5 at E.P "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

The men's team earned a fifth-place finish in the 8k with an average time of 25:59, while the women's squad placed 27^th in the 5k with a 20:08 average mark.

"Overall, both the men's and women's teams executed the race plan nicely," said head cross country coach Tim Sykes. "The training and recovery we've been putting in these last three weeks showed as the men's team improved to fifth place from the 38^th they finished last year in the same race and the women's team finished in the top half of the field, which was our women's team goal coming in. Individually, the majority of the group ran personal best times of one minute or more faster than their previous best times."

Six of seven competitors on the men's side recorded either personal-record or season-best times in the 8k as the team earned a fifth place finish out of the 57-school pool. Well's paced the squad, finishing the race in 11^th place among 511 total competitors with a PR of 24:59.0. Dedrick Troxell [49^th Place – 25:36.6] and Clint Sherman [98^th Place – 26:17.3] rounded out the Hilltoppers' top-100 finishers on the men's side.

WKU Men's Results
5^th – Team – 25:59 avg.
11^th – Emerson Wells – 24:59.0 (PR)
49^th – Dedrick Troxell – 25:36.6 (PR)
98^th – Clint Sherman – 26:17.3 (PR)
108^th – Jacob Skillman – 26:23.4 (Season-Best)
137^th – Jacob Steppe – 26:40.9 (Season-Best)
161^st – Will Perrone – 26:54.7 (Season-Best)
266^th – Luke Hoover – 27:50.0

On the women's side, all five athletes compiled personal-record or season-best times, with the squad finishing out the 5k ranked 27^th out of 62 total teams. Heckman earned the team's lone top-100 finish, recording a PR of 18:58.7 to place 30^th out of the 533 total contestants.

WKU Women's Results
27^th – Team – 20:08 avg.
30^th – Savannah Heckman – 18:58.7 (PR)
138^th – Morgan Kannapel – 19:53.0 (PR)
158^th – Jenna Vaughn – 20:02.3 (Season-Best)
196^th – Carley Maskos – 20:20.0 (Season-Best)
332^nd – Heather Whitlow – 21:26.6 (PR)

"A lot of positives to take away and a lot of momentum heading into three weeks out from conference championships," said Sykes. "All of our student-athletes should definitely be more confident after today, but we still have some areas to improve in as we get back to work on Monday and focus on continuing to get a little better each day as we build into the championship season."

WKU will close out regular season competition at the UE Invitational Saturday, Oct. 19 in Evansville, Ind., before playing host to the Conference USA Cross Country Championships Saturday, Nov. 2.