Fleace Leads Cross Country at John McNichols Invitational

Saturday, September 9

Terre Haute, Ind.

All Day

University of Louisville

John McNichols Invitational

Fleace Leads Cross Country at John McNichols Invitational

September 09, 2017 | Cross Country

Louisville women finish second and men finish third at Indiana State

By: Jake Stanley

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – With a second-place finish in the women's race and third-place mark in the men's race, the University of Louisville cross country teams continued a solid opening to the season Saturday morning at the John McNichols Invitational at Indiana State University's LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Junior Daniel Fleace used a strong finish to grab the first individual victory of his career with a time of 25:13.9 in the men's 8K.

"Daniel Fleace was certainly the highlight," said coach Dale Cowper. "It was exciting to see him earn his first collegiate victory. He was patient through the first 4K of the race and proved to be the strongest competitor as the race closed."

Fleace was joined in the top 10 by redshirt freshman teammate Albert Kosgei, who followed up a first-place finish at Tennessee with a ninth-place mark of 25:54.3. Three additional Cardinals finished in the top 20 as senior Jonathan Reynolds placed 11^th with a time of 26:04.3 and freshmen Alex McClarty and Cameron Stephens finished 17^th (26:37.4) and 19^th (26:50.1) respectively. In the overall tally, the Cards placed third with 57 points, falling behind Illinois (22) and Indiana State (54).

Earlier, in the women's 5K, Louisville's top performance came from junior Aurilla Wilson, who finished sixth with a time of 17:48.5. Junior Kassidy Manning followed close behind in seventh with a time of 17:50.1. Elsewhere in the top 20, senior Mia Ross placed 14^th with a time of 18:03.0, while junior Caroline Gosser finished 17^th with a time of 18:18.7 and fellow junior Abigail Wright placed 19^th with a mark of 18:23.2. The Cards finished second overall with 49 points, while No. 3 Michigan took the race with 15.

"The women's squad executed today's strategy flawlessly," said coach Cowper. "Coach (Joe) Walker and (Jenna) Wrieden asked them to go out and run as a pack, and they held that mindset from start to finish. If we can hold the 35 second gap we saw today from first through fifth, then the ladies will be a very strong team later this fall."

The Cardinals will now be idle for the next two weeks before beginning a long home stretch with the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Sept. 30 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Illinois, 22; 2. Indiana State, 54; 3. Louisville, 57; 4. Butler, 88; 5. Evansville, 133

MEN'S 8K RACE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Daniel Fleace, 25:13.9; 9. Albert Kosgei, 25:54.3; 11. Jonathan Reynolds, 26:04.3; 17. Alex McClarty, 26:37.4; 19. Cameron Stephens, 26:50.1; 27. Alex Lynch, 28:00.7; 31. Ben Ewert, 28:27.8; 32. Holden Wells, 28:30.5; 34. Jefferson Richardson, 28:37.6

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Michigan, 15; 2. Louisville, 49; 3. Indiana State, 82; 4. Cincinnati, 90; 5. Evansville, 154

WOMEN'S 5K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6. Aurilla Wilson, 17:48.5; 7. Kassidy Manning, 17:50.1; 14. Mia Ross, 18:03.0; 17. Caroline Gosser, 18:18.7; 19. Abigail Wright, 18:23.2; 37. Lauren Radenhausen, 19:17.1; 38. Michelle Appel, 19:19.4 (PR); 55. Hannah Herd, 20:10.9; 60. Britney Hansen, 20:22.3; 68. Madison Kiser, 20:33.1; 71. Maddy McClellan, 20:38.2