Sept. 26, 2010
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Auburn men's and women's cross country teams both finished in fourth place at the Brooks Memphis Twilight Cross Country Classic Saturday night. Senior Holly Knight and junior Ben Cheruiyot both won the individual crowns.
"Overall it was a good day for us for where we are right now," head coach Mark Carroll said.
In the men's 8K race, Cheruiyot clocked a time of 23:15.96 to come away with his first win of the season, beating a field of 264 runners. Cheruiyot pulled away down the stretch from Eastern Kentuckyk's Soufiane Bouchikhi, who placed second in 23:17.99.
"It was a fabulous run for Ben," Carroll said. "It was a battle all the way to the end, and a great win for Ben."
Freshman Colin Barker and junior Jeff Sanders were the next two Tigers to cross the line, running times of 24:32.31 and 24:49.39 to come in seventh and 13th place, respectively. The Tigers scored 122 total points while finishing fourth out of 30 teams.
On the women's side Knight completed the 5K race in 17:05.97 to add another win to her impressive resume, beating a field of 256 runners. Her victory was much more decisive than Cheruiyot's as the next closest runner was more than 23 seconds behind her.
"Holly had a great race," Carroll added. "She led from start to finish and got her second win of the year. Overall she had a very good day."
Stephanie Barnes was close behind finishing third in 17:29.00. Freshman Elizabeth Briasco rounded out Auburn's top three runners in 16th place with a time of 18:17.18.
After two weeks of strong races Auburn takes a break from competition and returns to action Oct. 16 at the Chili Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.