Cross Country Posts Top-Five Finishes Saturday

Saturday, September 21

Memphis, Tenn.

8:00 am CT

University of Memphis

Rhodes College Invitational (M: 8k/W: 6k)

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Sep 21, 2019 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Rhodes College Invitational (Men's Results)Rhodes College Invitational (Women's Results)

Gleason, Friske lead squads for second time this season.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Payton Gleason and Callie Friske paced the men's and women's cross country squads, respectively, in the 2019 Rhodes College Invitational Saturday.

The men's squad placed second to fellow American Athletic Conference member Tulsa. On the women's side, the Tigers were third behind league foes Tulsa and Cincinnati.

Gleason and Friske were Memphis' top finishers in both races. Gleason, a sophomore, was seventh, and Friske, a freshman, was eighth. It was the second time this season they were Memphis' first runners to cross the finish line, as both took team honors at the season-opening City Auto Twilight Classic.

Gleason posted an 8k career-best time of 24:40.0, shaving 30 seconds off his previous-best time. Saturday's 6k race was the first of Friske's collegiate career.

Up Next
The Tigers are off next weekend, but return to action Oct. 5 at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky.

Tigers Tidbits

Shelby Farms, which hosted Saturday's Rhodes College Invitational, also is the site for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships Nov. 1.
The Tigers recorded top-five finishes for both the men's and women's teams for the third time in as many races in 2019.
The Memphis men ran their second 8k race of the season, while the women raced in their first 6k event of 2019.
For the eighth-straight year, the Memphis men's and women's teams both posted top-three finishes at the Rhodes College Invitational. The men's squad was second, and the women third Saturday.
The team's top-five runners all placed in the top-25. The last time the Tigers did this in the Rhodes College Invitational was in 2017 when all five runners finished in the top-20.
On the men's side, the top-five finishers all placed in the top-20. The last time that happened in the Rhodes College Invitational was in 2014.
The Tigers men's squad had eight runners compete in the first collegiate 8k race of their careers.
Five Tigers men's runners posted their 8k personal-bests Saturday, and they were Christian Corsello, Emmanuel Cullins, Payton Gleason, Tate Wyatt and Zachary Wyatt.
On the women's side, Gabrielle Byndas and Paige Sandwell both logged their career-best 6k times in Saturday's Rhodes College Invitational.
Gabrielle Byndas improved her personal-best 6k time by nearly 1:30.
Christian Corsello had the largest improvement of an 8k time on the men's side, cutting more than 1:10 off his previous career-best.
Senior Paige Sandwell logged her 10^thcareer top-25 finish Saturday.
Payton Gleason recorded his fourth career top-25 finish and his second top-10.
Tate and Zachary Wyatt both posted their fourth career top-25 performances.

Men's Results (8k)/Team Finish: 2^nd(63 points)

Place	Runner	Time
7.	Payton Gleason	24:40.0
9.	Zachary Wyatt	24:45.7
13.	Tate Wyatt	25:02.2
15.	Jake Hollinger	25:17.1
19.	Christian Corsello	25:30.7
36.	Peter Kostarellis	26:10.1
56.	Clay Campbell	26:46.0
	Max Rathburn	27:00.4
	Emmanuel Cullins	27:13.6
	Bradley Turner	27:27.0
	Brendan Hill	27:38.2
	Jason Doland	27:53.7
	Nicholas Weber	28:00.5
	Jacob Pringle	28:20.7
	Avery Wood	28:22.8
	Benjamin Homeyer	29:41.3

Women's Results (6k)/Team Finish: 3^rd(72 points)

Place	Runner	Time
8.	Callie Friske	21:43.9
11.	Paige Sandwell	21:50.4
13	Gabrielle Byndas	21:53.6
15.	Brooke Mussche	21:57.3
25	Brooke Calvo	22:26.6
29	Chablis Shreffler	22:34.3
47.	Chloe Figgins	23:02.0
	Hannah Anderson	23:11.5
	Solstice Saliba	23:35.3
	Olivia Tolkinen	24:02.7
	Sonsoles Martin Rodriguez	24:10.8
	Emily Treptow	24:16.4
	Madi Ray	24:36.0
	Erin Gilbert	24:54.7
	Reagan Casey	24:55.1
	Lauren Metzger	26:25.8
	Quinci Snedeker	27:28.8