Macumber wins in UK’s first cross country home meet since 1995

%C2%A0

 

By Justin Chartrand

[email protected]

The UK cross-country team was in action in Lexington for the first time in the regular season since 1995 at the Bluegrass Cross Country Invitational at Masterson Station Park.

UK hosted Eastern Kentucky University, the University of Cincinnati, Oklahoma State University, the University of Louisville, Miami University (Ohio), the University of Akron, Transylvania University and the College of Mount St. Joseph (men’s only).

The Cats were coming into this looking for a better performance than their last race at the Belmont invitational, according to UK head coach Edrick Floreal.

Before the race, Floreal didn’t tell the team too much.

“We try not to interfere to much with the preparation of an athlete because sometimes you can over-coach them and make it more difficult for them,” said Floreal.

UK assistant coach Sean Graham told the team before the event to “just go out there and compete hard, be fearless and trust yourself to make good decisions”.

Senior Adam Kahleifeh (24:11:70) was the men’s top runner for UK after finishing in eighth place.As a senior, Kahleifeh ran in his last and only shot at the Bluegrass Cross-Country Invitational.

“Adam developed a lot from where he was last year to this year,” Floreal said. “It’s impressive to see what a difference a year can make for a runner.”

Senior Matt Hillenbrand ( finished in the top-20 with Kahleifeh, coming in 14th place. Overall, the Cats men’s team finished in fourth place with 111 points. Eastern Kentucky finished in first place with 34 points.

The UK women’s team had two top-five finishers in its race.  Senior Cally Macumber won the event (16:32:11) while senior Allison Peare finished in third place. Macumber and Peare led the Cats to a third-place finish with 57 points, only nine points away from Eastern Kentucky’s first place finish of 48.

“This is a young team,” Floreal said of a program that has over 40 new runners combined from each team. “It’s going to take time but, a year can make a big diference for these runners”

The Cats will be running again on September 28th at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla.