By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – For the first time since 2006, the University of Tennessee at Martin cross country teams hosted a home meet at newly formed Pacer Pond Cross Country Course by holding the inaugural Soybean Invitational on Friday evening.
The Skyhawks posted impressive showings in their season debut as the men’s squad won the team title, the women finished third and senior Luke McNair took home his first career individual title.
“It is super exciting with the first home meet in 15 years,” UT Martin head coach Kevin Mangan said. “It was really exciting to watch and we had a good turnout. There were lots of families and lots of friends while we had the women’s soccer team out there going crazy and that was awesome. It was just a really fun event and we look forward to hosting a meet for UTM cross country every year.”
The evening got started with the women’s three-mile run in the early evening. UT Martin posted a team score of 75 in the meet for a third-place finish in the season opener while finishing ahead of Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri.
The Skyhawks were paced by sophomore Erica Fisher who finished 10th overall with a time of 18:24.6 while freshman Lydia Tankersley wasn’t far behind with a time of 18:34.4 to place 13th. The team then saw the remaining three scorers cross the line in alternating fashion with newcomers Lilia Alvarez (18:48.5), Victoria Holliday (18:58.0) and Rita Eimer (18:59.6) each finishing in the top-20.
“The women, I thought, ran well and we will be a lot more ready to get out faster at the next meet but particularly when we get into October and November with them,” Mangan remarked. “We will keep moving up as well as we did in the second half, but I really liked how they attacked the second half of the race. They beat the SEMO women who I don’t think we have ever beat before – at least not since I have been here – which is exciting.”
In the night cap, the Skyhawk men who entered the season ranked 12th in the South Region preseason poll stayed in the lead pack before making their move in the back stretch of the race. The team would be rewarded for their smart racing by winning the team title with 36 points overall.
Highlighting the men’s squad was the performance of senior Luke McNair who earned his first career individual title with a four-mile time of 19:40.5 to finish over 10 seconds faster than the runner-up. Sophomore George Payne also turned in a strong effort by finishing in fifth overall at 19:54.3. The Skyhawks then rounded out the scoring group as the five athletes each posted top-12 times. Freshman Will Cahill posted a seventh-place finish (20:00.3) while classmate Sam Shuman (20:20.7) and senior Will Oglesby (20:27.2) finished back-to-back in 11th and 12th place, respectively.
“On the guys side it was fun,” Mangan continued. “They executed their race plan really well. They got out like we wanted them to and just moved up nicely. I was telling kind of our mid-pack of guys that it is the third mile why we are going to win or lose. Our top two or three guys took care of business, but 4, 5, 6, 7 and on up moved up really well on the third mile and kept moving on the fourth mile. That’s why we won today.”
While the inaugural Soybean Invitational is now in the rear-view mirror, Mangan believed there was a big benefit to competing on their home course and is something the program looks to do in the future. “The college teams got the benefit of watching the high schoolers go and kind of see the course a bit. I definitely think that getting out here on Tuesday and doing our workout really helped them get an idea of where to make their move or this is where it is going to get tough and I need to have that positive self-talk. As we look a couple years down the road to the 2024 OVC Championships, I think that will be a huge advantage for us to have it here on campus.”
UT Martin will return to action in two weeks when traveling to Memphis for the Rhodes Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 18. The men’s race will be contested at 8 a.m. with the women’s to follow at 8:45 a.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information