No. 15 Louisville Men's Cross Country Wins Second Straight Greater Louisville Classic

Saturday, September 29

E.P. 'TOM' SAWYER PARK

9:30 AM

University of Louisville

GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC

No. 15 Louisville Men's Cross Country Wins Second Straight Greater Louisville Classic

September 29, 2007 | Cross Country

Sept. 29, 2007

Complete Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's cross country team stayed unbeaten in 2007 as the No. 15 ranked Cardinals had four runners finish in the top 10 to dominate Saturday's Greater Louisville Classic (GLC) at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. With the win, the Cards successfully defended their 2006 GLC title and have now won three of the last four GLC titles overall.

In the women's race, the Cardinals had two runners finish in the top six positions to earn second place overall for the program's best finish ever at the GLC eclipsing last year's third-place finish. Saturday's event was hosted by the Greater Louisville Sports Commission in conjunction with U of L.

Overall, the Cardinal men scored 58 points to lead the field of 36 teams. Rend Lake College was second with 146 points followed by Eastern Kentucky in third with 169 points, 2005 GLC champion Tennessee in fourth with 199 points and Kentucky in fifth with 210 points.

Leading the Cards' quartet of top 10 finishers were seniors Wesley Korir and Soimo Kiplagat in second and third place respectively. Korir, a native of Eldoret, Kenya and a two-time GLC champion, covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 23 minutes, 20.46 seconds, the third fastest time in course history, while Kiplagat, from Kapsabet, Kenya, was third with a time of 23:40.97, the fifth fastest time in course history. Eastern Kentucky's Jacob Korir, who finished seventh in the nation in 2006, won the individual title with a course record setting time of 23:08.89.

"I felt pretty good today and I thought I ran pretty a solid race overall," the Cards' Korir said. "My legs tightened up a little bit at about three and a half miles and that's when Jacob made his move on me. By the time I relaxed again, I wasn't able to make up the difference, but it was still a great race for our team and that's important."

Finishing in the third position for the Cards and in ninth place overall in the standings was sophomore Michael Eaton with a time of 24:09.06, while junior Cory Thorne was 10th in the field of 310 with a time of 24:15.07. Sophomore Matt Smith closed out the scoring for the Cards with a time of 24:54.83 to finish 36th overall.

"This was a perfect day for racing and I thought our guys did a great job today," said Cards' head coach Ron Mann. "Wesley had a great head-to-head race with Jacob Korir, and I'm really proud of the effort from all of our guys, especially Soimo and Michael. And Matt Smith did a wonderful job of getting up to be our fifth guy today. This was a strong performance for our team in front of our home fans and we really appreciate them coming out and supporting us today."

Sophomore Tarah McKay and freshman Emily Borsare earned top six finishes to lead the Cardinal women to 103 points and second place overall. Kentucky led the way in the field of 29 teams with 55 points, while 2006 GLC champion Georgia Tech was third with 174 points. Eastern Kentucky was fourth with 175 points, while Tennessee-Chattanooga closed out the top five with 185 points.

"Tarah ran another great race and she continues to mature and improve with every event," Mann said. "I'm also very happy with how Emily is adjusting to racing at the collegiate level and the progress of our entire team. And even though we're not where we want to be just yet, we're making great strides and improving every day."

McKay, a native of St. Clements, Ont., and the 2006 GLC champion, covered the 5-kilometer course in a time of 17:13.44 for the fifth-best time in course history and second place overall. Borsare, a native of Peachtree City, Ga., finished sixth overall with a time of 17:27.28, while Rend Lake's Pasca Cheruiyot won the individual title with a time of 17:06.44, the third fastest time in course history.

"My focus was on running my race and not worry too much about what was going on around me," McKay said. "I wanted to start the race on my pace and keep the leaders in sight of me so that I could make a move later in the race and that worked out pretty well. Our team is definitely improving and today was a good day for us."

Also scoring for the Cardinal women was sophomore Kelsey Page, who finished 29th overall with a time of 18:07.91, while freshman Lotte Jacobs saw her first action of the season and finished 33rd overall with a time of 18:21.28. Senior Taryn Gibson closed the scoring for the Cards in 37th place with a time of 18:26.51.

"Hosting home meets and competing in front of the great Louisville fans is very important to our program," Mann said. "And the partnership we have with the Greater Louisville Sports Commission and the terrific people there is a great asset to our program. We truly appreciate the hard work they put forth in making this event a first-class meet in every way."

Up next, U of L will take a week off from competition before returning to action on Oct. 13 at the Pre-Nationals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., site of the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Cards will team with the GLSC to host two more meets at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in 2007, including the BIG EAST Championships on Oct. 27 and the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 10.

Greater Louisville ClassicE.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park - Sept. 29, 2007Men: 8 km / Women: 5 km
MENS GOLD RACE RESULTS (36 Teams)1.  LOUISVILLE  58 points2.  Rend Lake College   146 points3.  Eastern Kentucky    169 points4.  Tennessee   199 points5.  Kentucky    210 points6.  Wake Forest 214 points7.  East Tennessee  238 points8.  Southern Indiana    250 points
U of L Men's Individual Finishers (Field of 310)2.  Wesley Korir  # 23:20.463.  Soimo Kiplagat  $ 23:40.979.  Michael Eaton    24:09.0610. Cory Thorne    24:15.0736. Matt Smith  24:54.8344. Scott McClain    25:02.0246. Thad Schroeder  25:05.09277.    Abraham Businei    28:21.46
WOMENS GOLD RACE RESULTS (28 Teams)1.  Kentucky    55 points2.  LOUISVILLE  103 points3.  Georgia Tech    174 points4.  Eastern Kentucky    175 points5.  Tennessee-Chattanooga   185 points6.  Western Kentucky    209 points7.  Bowling Green   222 points8.  Georgia State   273 points
U of L Women's Individual Finishers (Field of 239)2.  Tarah McKay    $ 17:13.446.  Emily Borsare    17:27.2829. Kelsey Page    18:08.9133. Lotte Jacobs  18:21.2837. Taryn Gibson  18:26.5148. Kat Alcorn  18:38.3751. Kortni Dukes  18:39.9064. Sarah Weir  18:55.35143.    Kathryn Long  19:51.62196.    Shannon Walion  21:05.63202.    Casey Keefer  21:13.43
# = Third fastest time in course history$ = Fifth fastest time in course history