UK Cross Country had an impressive showing at the FSU Pre-Nationals meet on Friday, as the No. 27 women’s XC team finished 12th, while the men finished 18th.

Sophomore Tori Herman led the women with a 20:16.1 personal best in the 6K. Ethan Kern found himself leading the UK men for the third time this season as the sophomore finished 80th in the 8K with a time of 24:06.2.

Herman’s efforts collected her third consecutive top-25 finish this season, with one of those at Notre Dame and another at the Commodore Classic at Vanderbilt. Perri Bockrath and Jenna Gearing trailed not far behind Herman, as Bockrath finished 51st (20:42.2) and Gearing at 63rd (20:47.9). 

In the open 6K, Sophie Carrier led the team with a 21st-place finish, clocking in at 21:36.1. Of the 33 teams participating in Friday’s meet, the UK women finished 12—giving all five scoring runners a place in the top 110 out of 243. 

Sophomore Matt Duval trailed Kern closely with an 84th-place finish, clocking in at 24:09.1. Freshman Theo Bachman led the Cats in the men’s open 8K finishing 40th with a time of 25:06.8. 

The men saw three Cats finish in the top-100, out of 40 teams and 304 runners. The 18th place finish gave the men their third straight top-25 finish through all meets this season. 

Coming up next for the Cats will be a trip to Colombia, Missouri for the 2021 SEC Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 29.