Men's Cross Country Wins Title, Women Strong Second at Rhodes Invite

Saturday, September 18

Memphis, Tenn.

University of Memphis

Rhodes College Invitational

Chloe Figgins, 2019 Women's Cross Country

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Men's Cross Country Wins Title, Women Strong Second at Rhodes Invite

Sep 19, 2021 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis men's and women's cross country recorded seven top-10 performances at the Rhodes Invitational Saturday.

The men's team placed first in the 8k, while the women placed second only to Arkansas State in the 5k. This is the ninth-straight year, excluding 2020, that the Tigers have had top-three finishes for both the men's and women's teams.

Junior Zachary Wyatt paced the men with his first-place finish at 24:40.5, followed by Payton Gleason (third, 24:54.8), Vincent Chenier (sixth, 25:17.3) and Tate Wyatt (seventh, PR 25:18.9), all finishing in the top 10. Freshman Hudson Hurst led a second pack of Tigers to top-20 performances by finishing 15^th (25:51.9), with fellow freshmen Andrew Henton (16^th, 25:55.4) and Liam Walsh(17^th, 25:56.6) close behind.

On the women's side, sophomore Chloe Figgins crossed the finish line first for the Tigers, coming in second with a PR of 17:57.7.Solstice Saliba and Brooke Mussche also broke the top 10 with sixth (PR 18:26.5) and ninth-place (18:36.6) finishes, respectively.

Like the men, the women's team also had a strong second pack finish in the top 20: Hannah Anderson (13^th, 19:17.5), Lydia Kurfman(16^th, 19:21.0), Sonsoles Martin Rodriguez (17^th, 19:24.0) and Lauren Metzger (18^th, 19:24.5).

"We went into the Rhodes meet with our sights set on racing and not to be concerned with time, and I believe we accomplished that objective for both teams," cross country coach Ken Frenette said. "I was pleased to see how both teams dealt with a little adversity with storm delays and a muddy course. Several athletes fell while racing due to rain and mud, including a number of Tigers. They showed a lot of determination in bouncing back up and rejoining the race quickly."

After three-straight race weekends, the Tigers will have a weekend off before setting out to compete at the Greater Louisville Classic Oct. 2.

"We're going to build on what we accomplished this weekend in continuing to tweak and improve in our training and workouts as we get closer to the championship portion of the season," Frenette said. "While both teams raced well, they have yet to reach the summit of what they're capable of racing."

Complete Results

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Cross Country, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.