ORLANDO, Fla. – The Cleveland State cross country team returned to action at the Disney Cross Country Classic Saturday morning, placing second as a team, marking their highest finish so far this season.
Cleveland State, who was competing in its final tune-up before the Horizon League Championship, had three runners finish in the top-15 en route to collecting 71 points in the team standings.
"We raced really well today, and had a focus on racing together, which we did a great job of talking to each other throughout the entire race," head coach Jason Hudson said. "We did a great job of cutting our time gap between groups of runners, and even had seven runners post season-best times, along with Olivia who recorded a PR today."
For the fourth time this season, the Vikings were paced by junior Anna Brandt who finished seventh individually with a 5K time of 18:54. This marked Brandt's second top-10 finish of the season, as she has now recorded an 18-minute 5K during all three 5K races this year.
Olivia Hammons and Hannah Korte were the next two finishers for Cleveland State, both recording career-best times on the 5K course. Hammons finished ninth overall – marking the first-ever top-10 finish of her collegiate career – with a time of 19:02, while Korte posted a time of 19:12 to finish 12th individually.
The Vikings had another trio finish in the top-30 then, as Kylie Scott (23rd – 19:50), Lily Michael (27th – 20:11) and Haley Rozeski (30th – 20:37) were the next Cleveland State runners to cross the finish line.
Freshman Zoe Lexovsky was the next Viking to finish, posting a time of 20:37, while Heather McArdle (21:23), Deanna Swinerton (22:00) and Abbey Rojeck (22:16) also represented Cleveland State at the Disney Cross Country Classic.
"Our training is set up for us to race faster as we get toward the end of the season, which sets us up well as we get focused for the conference meet next month. I think everyone is laser focused on our goals as we head into the next few weeks of practice, before setting our sights on the Horizon League Championship," Hudson said.
The Vikings will now have three weeks off from competition, returning to action at the 2019 Horizon League Championship. The 2019 #HLXC Championship will take place on Saturday, November 2 and will be hosted by Northern Kentucky.
Disney Cross Country Classic Results
7. Anna Brandt, 18:54
9. Olivia Hammons, 19:02
12. Hannah Korte, 19:12
23. Kylie Scott, 19:50
27. Lily Michael, 20:11
30. Haley Rozeski, 20:24
38. Zoe Lexovsky, 20:37
56. Heather McArdle, 21:23
66. Deanna Swinerton, 22:00
72. Abbey Rojeck, 22:16