Cross Country Posts Top-Five Finishes Saturday

Saturday, August 31

Memphis, Tenn.

9 pm CT

University of Memphis

City Auto Twilight Classic (M: 4 miles/W: 5k)

Callie Friske, 2019 Women's Cross Country

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Sep 01, 2019 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

2019 Memphis Twilight Classic (Men's Results)2019 Memphis Twilight Classic (Women's Results)

Gleason, Friske lead squads in 2019 season-opening races.

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Payton Gleason and Callie Friske paced the Tigers men's and women's cross country squads, respectively, in their season-opening races at the City Auto Memphis Twilight Classic late Saturday night. The women's 5k race started at 9:20 p.m. (CT), followed by the men's four-mile race at 10 p.m. (CT).

Gleason, a sophomore, was the men's top finisher, crossing the line in sixth place in a time of 20:01.95. Friske, a freshman, led the women's lead with a 13^th-place performance (18:23.95).

Head coach Kevin Robinson comments
"I was really excited to see what Callie did tonight. She stepped up and ran aggressively, she ran strong and she ran without fear. That was really impressive in the first race of her college career. Paige finished behind Callie and ran pretty well, but she is better than what she ran tonight. I'm confident she's going to bounce back.

"Our fifth-place team finish is a decent start. We have a lot of work to do. Tonight gave us a chance to see all of our new kids compete for the first time. What we see in practice and what we see in competition are two different things. We definitely had some pleasant surprises tonight, so I'm excited.

"For the men, Payton stepped up and ran a great race. He picked up right where he left off at the end of the track season in the spring. Christian ran well too. He worked hard this summer, and he's come back more fit than he's ever been. To see him step up tonight was great. And Peter ran well too.

"With our guys, we held out Jake and the Wyatts, three of our best runners. To see the others step up and fill that void was encouraging."

Tigers Tidbits

Eighteen newcomers (7 men/11 women) posted finishes Saturday night. Callie Friske led the women newcomers, and Peter Kostarellis was the men's top freshman finisher (16^th).
The men's team was fourth and the women's squad fifth in their respective races. It is the first time both teams posted top-five finishes since the 2014 Memphis Twilight Classic (men, 4^th/women, 4^th).
All five of the Memphis women runners that counted in the team score placed in the top-34 of the race. It is the highest grouping by the Tigers women at the Memphis Twilight Classic, with the fifth runner placing 34^th. The previous highest grouping was in 2014 when the final scoring runner placed 44^th(team was fourth). In 2017, the Memphis women placed fifth as a team, and the Tigers fifth runner crossed the finish line in 50^thplace.
Payton Gleason and Christian Corsello both improved their times from last season's Memphis Twilight Classic. Gleason shaved 58 seconds off his time from a year ago (20:59.95), and Corsello improved his effort by nearly 1:08 (21:59.20).
Senior Gabrielle Byndas ran her best time in the Memphis Twilight Classic. She bettered her previous-best by nearly 30 seconds (19:45.4 in 2017).
Senior Paige Sandwell ran in the Memphis Twilight Classic for the first time since 2017. She missed last year's Classic due to an injury.

Men's Results (4 miles)/Team Finish: 4^th(111 points)

Place	Runner	Time
6.	Payton Gleason	20:01.95
14.	Christian Corsello	20:51.16
16.	Peter Kostarellis	20:56.74
37.	Bradley Turner	21:41.94
38.	Max Rathburn	21:42.40
41.	Nicholas Weber	21:52.06
42.	Clay Campbell	21:53.90
	Jacob Pringle	21:55.25
	Emmanuel Cullins	22:11.81
	Jason Doland	22:14.72
	Brendan Hill	22:29.08
	Benjamin Homeyer	23:18.41

Women's Results (5k)/Team Finish: 5^th(131 points)

Place	Runner	Time
13.	Callie Friske	18:23.95
24.	Paige Sandwell	18:54.25
27.	Brooke Mussche	18:55.56
33.	Brooke Calvo	19:15.35
34.	Gabrielle Byndas	19:15.65
35.	Chablis Shreffler	19:15.81
40.	Chloe Figgins	19:30.92
	Sonsoles Martin Rodriguez	19:38.52
	Hannah Anderson	19:50.47
	Emily Treptow	20:22.35
	Madi Ray	20:22.51
	Solstice Saliba	20:28.30
	Olivia Tolkinen	20:31.03
	Erin Gilbert	21:09.01
	Reagan Casey	22:24.30
	Lauren Metzger	22:36.88