UKXC Men’s Team Victorious, Kunc Wins Individual Race at Bama
Full Results: Women | MenTUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Kentucky cross country teams built momentum to take into postseason at Alabama’s Crimson Classic Friday. The UK men’s team won the team competition, led by Jacob Thomson who placed third individually.Katy Kunc won her individual race, helping Kentucky to a second place women’s team finish. Men’s Race RecapKentucky earned perhaps its best team finish of the season at just the right time – two weeks before the Southeastern Conference Championships – winning with 70 points, beating Georgia by 13."Truthfully, today was just another step in the process," men's cross country coach Sean Graham said. "We just needed to come out and have a good race. I know this is a fast course. Alabama’s got a couple of fast guys up front that we just wanted to run with them and we did.”Jacob Thomson led the way for Kentucky placing third overall, but earning second-place points as race winner Alfred Chelanga of Shorter didn’t compete alongside a squad of five or more. He ran an 8,067-meter time of 24:18.30, four seconds behind Alabama’s Antibahs Kosgei.Ben Young had one of the best finishes of his career placing ninth overall in 24:51.80. Mick Iacofano placed 18th running a time of 25:06.70. Brennan Fields was UK’s No. 4 finisher, 24th overall, in 25:11.30.Gabe Harm placed 25th in 25:31.90 to round out Kentucky’s scoring.Women’s Race RecapKunc won her third race from four outings this season. The 2015 USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region selection won two home meets to start the year and then placed third two weeks ago at Texas A&M.Alabama won the women’s competition with 76 points to Kentucky’s 96."I was really trying to win," Kunc said. "I knew if I stayed in that top group for as long as I could and then in the last kilometer or so, I could start breaking away, I would feel really good. I’m really excited. It’s my first major win at an invite.”Kunc ran a 5.914k time of 20:15.20. She ran 20:18.50 in a 6k two weeks ago, but her 6k cross country PR prior to this season was 20:34.50.Avery Bussjager ran 21:22.30 to place earn 16th-place points as UK’s No. 2 finisher. Amy Hansen got 19th-place points traversing the course in 21:26.00.Caroline McCaslin and Whitney O’Bryan earned 22nd and 38th-place points respectively with times of 21:33.00 and 21:47.50.--Teams at the Crimson Classic included hosts Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.Friday’s races were the Wildcats final outing before the Southeastern Conference Championships, hosted by Arkansas in a fortnight.
Kentucky Men’s Team Results
Pl
Athlete
Pts
Time
3
Jacob Thomson
2
24:18.3
9
Ben Young
8
24:51.8
18
Mick Iacofano
15
25:06.7
24
Brennan Fields
20
25:11.3
31
Gabe Harm
25
25:31.9
46
Kendall Muhammad
(37)
25:41.7
52
Matthew Thomas
(43)
25:48.0
75
Daniel Southard
26:04.7
80
Lou Styles
26:08.8
132
Cole Dowdy
26:47.2
Kentucky Women’s Team Results
Place
Athlete
Pts
Time
1
Katy Kunc
1
20:15.2
20
Avery Bussjager
16
21:22.3
25
Amy Hansen
19
21:26.0
28
Caroline McCaslin
22
21:33.0
47
Whitney O'Bryan
38
21:47.5
58
Aundrea Busse
(47)
21:57.1
70
Jill Weston
(56)
22:10.7
77
Sarah Crawford
22:19.6
80
Caitlin Shepard
22:22.8
95
Michelle McKinney
22:36.1
114
Devynn Miller
22:48.7
--For the most in-depth coverage of the UK cross country and track and field program follow the @KentuckyTrack social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as on UKathletics.com.