LAKELAND, Fla. — The University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls finished seventh in the Men’s National USCAA Cross Country Meet held Friday.
The outstanding finish was made more astonishing by the extreme climate difference between the Owls’ normal northern Maine training temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s and the balmy Florida temperature of 82, with 74 percent humidity at the start of the race.
Junior Sully Jackson used the experience he earned in last year’s nationals to finish first for the Owls with a time of 29:58, garnering a 29th overall finish. Jackson ran his typically well-paced race in finishing eight spots better than his 2014 finish of 37th.
The heat caused a shakeup in the finish order for UM-Presque Isle. Usual front runner Connor Hrynuk ran in the third position (59th of 126 overall finishers at 31:30) with Corey Hebert running his final race for the Owls in the second spot (48th, 31:27).
Andrew Hunt, was not detered by the heat and humidity, improving markedly in finishing as the Owls’ fourth scoring runner (54th at 31:53), followed by Saul Nunez as the fifth man (60th, 32:13), Trevor Levesque (65th), Mitchell St. Peter (74th, 33:11), and Matthew Forshey (91st, 34:29).
Race winner was Kenyan native Emmanuell Kimmei of Berea at 26:32.
“Despite the heat we ran well enough to more up seven spots over last year, from 14th to seventh,” said Owl head coach Chris Smith. “I thought we’d move up at least that much and may have done better had the heat not taken its toll. Everyone, however, had to deal with the elements and I’m very happy with the way we ran.”
Three UMPI runners were in the field for the women’s national meet, finishing 72nd, 87th and 89th.
Chenoa Jackson paced the Owls with a time 6K time of 30:54. Tabitha Taylor and Sara Bell finished with identical 33:01 times.
Aine McMorrow of SUNY-Canton won the event with a time of 23:34. Berea College of Kentucky won the women’s overall championship. Only five teams completed the 6K race with the five finishers needed to gain a team score for the event.
“Extreme heat caused changes in race tactics with teams from northern climates paying the price and likely not performing as might have otherwise,” Smith said. “We’re hoping to represent UMPI with a complete team next year.”
