ARLINGTON, Texas – With three top-five finishes, the ULM cross country men’s team turned in a second-place finish out of nine at the UTA Invitational on Saturday, while the women placed sixth out of 13 at Lyon Creek Park.
Junior Hillary Kirwa led the way for the men with a second-place time of 19:36.5 (4:54 mile). Freshmen Vinnie Van Puyvelde and Dusan Makevic finished fourth and fifth with times of 19:46 (4:57 mile) and 19:52 (4:58 mile), respectively. Junior Silah Chumba finished 12th with a score of 20:33 (5:08 mile) despite a nagging injury.
“This is a young team and three of our top five men are freshmen. Still, this is one of the strongest cross country teams ULM has ever had,” said ULM cross country coach Karoly Varga. “My biggest concern was Chumba. He has had a nagging injury that has hampered his training this past week and even though he was injured, he ran well. When he is back healthy, he can run with our top guys.”
The Warhawks finished ahead of Texas-Arlington, which was picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in the 2013 Preseason Poll. ULM also competed against North Texas, UALR, Texas Wesleyan, Hardin-Simmons, Dallas, Arlington Baptist College and Sul Ross State. Defending conference champions UALR finished on top.
“I knew coming in that we could run with any of these teams. The men beat the pre-season number one team on their home course,” said Varga.
On the women’s side, sophomore Pauline Muiruri led the way for the third consecutive meet with a top-15 time of 19:27.6 (6.14 mile). Sophomore Rebecca Dark registered a top-35 finish of 20:33.4 (6:35 mile).
“The women stepped it up today. I really believe that if we continue to improve like we have been these last few weeks, we will finish higher than our pre-season ranking,” said Varga.
The women were picked 10th in the SBC Preseason Poll.
The Warhawks ran against Baylor, SMU, North Texas, UALR, Texas Wesleyan, Midwestern State, Dallas, Southeastern Oklahoma, Hardin-Simmons, Dallas, Austin College and Sul Ross State.
ULM will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 5 when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Chile Pepper Festival.
ULM Men Individual Results (4.27 miles)
2. Hillary Kirwa (19:36.5)
4. Vinnie Van Puyvelde (19:46.0)
5. Dusan Makevic (19:52.2)
12. Silah Chumba (20:33.2)
22. Brent Turner (21:13.2)
29. Jonathan Jeffcoat (22:14.3)
30. Dominique Cheffin (23:18.2)
ULM Women Individual Results (3.22 miles)
15. Pauline Muiruri (19:27.6)
34. Rebecca Dark (20:33.4)
37. Anakaren Lopez (20:53.9)
45. Teona Glave (22:03.0)
47. Julie Hinson (22:42.8)