The UTM cross country team gained another victory last week when Shalaine Phaup and Angelina Gracian came in first place at the Arkansas State relay last Saturday. The race consisted of a two-person relay team.

The women ran three miles each for a total of six miles; the men ran four miles each for a total of eight miles. Arkansas State did not use their traditional course this year; instead, they chose to use their intramural field.

The Lady Skyhawks finished second overall scoring 31. UTM duo junior Phaup and sophomore Gracian could not be stopped. Phaup ran a time of 17:08.95, while Gracian ran a time of 17:24.34. Also scoring for the Lady Skyhawks were Meagan Vonderheide (19:37.14), Kim Van Winkle (20:30.90), Mary Tatum Day (20:32.37), and Hannah Clawson (23:14.27).

For the men’s team, UTM juniors, Jeremy Coltharp and Darrel Lewis, finished second overall in their eight-mile battle to the finish line. Coltharp ran a time of 21:17.14 while Lewis ran a time of 20:52.38 to lead the Skyhawks to a total score of 37.
Also scoring for the men were Philip Rhodes (21:09.02), Phillip Gordon (21:37.88), Ryan Wilson (21:46.43), and Zac Hedrick (23:37.28).

“This was just a fun race before our week of rest, light jogging and mental preparation to get ready for OVC Conferences this Saturday,” said UTM cross country coach, Jason McKinney. “We are ranked seventh in our conference with two teams entering the race this week that we have not competed against this season.”

“I do not see anyone beating Eastern Illinois’ men’s team or Eastern Kentucky’s women’s team, but the individual places are up for grabs,” coach McKinney said. “The team has done well this year with a few surprises. Shalaine has won on several occasions this season, and Gracian has really stepped up to help the team."”

“We will not know how much the issue of not having a track team will affect the training and attitudes of our cross country team until next season, but it will definitely hurt our recruiting efforts. This year we will enter track meets as individuals and focus more on individual training and keep mileages high,” said coach McKinney.