Senior Ryan Kinnane and sophomore Gené Coetzee led the Auburn cross country teams to strong finishes for both the men's and women's at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown in Boston. Kinnane brought home a silver medal in the men's race with a time of 23:48.90 over 8k, while Coetzee ran her best race of her Auburn career with a fourth-place finish in a time of 17:08.60 over the 5k course at Franklin Park.
"Overall, I think our teams left this meet wanting a bit more, but I was encouraged with how both groups handled the environment and the challenges this meet presented," Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt said. "This was a very challenging course against an experienced field."
The men finished sixth of 14 teams in the team standings with 149 points, while the women were seventh of 16 teams with 143 points.
"Gene ran her best race as an Auburn Tiger," Kindt said. "I thought she did a great job staying patient and trusting her plan. Her follow through gave her a chance for the win at the end of the race and it was exciting to see her take this step today."
Not far behind Coetzee was junior Hallie Porterfield (17:36.80), graduate student-athlete Hannah Tarwater (17:51.60), freshman Mary Mac Collins (17:54.30) and Cady McPhail (18:19.80) to round out the top-5 for the Tigers.
"Hallie ran another strong race that helped stabilize our group. She continues to stack consistently strong performances and has been invaluable to our team at that second scoring spot," Kindt said. "We had steady performances out of Mary Mac, who continues her excellent freshman campaign, and Cady who had an exciting run at the fifth spot. We also had a nice bounce back run for Hannah that rounded out a strong day for our women."
Following Kinnane's second-place finish was junior Cooper Atkins (24:43.60), senior Carson Bedics (24:51.40), junior Louis O'Louglin (25:05.40) and freshman Max Hardin (25:15:00) to wrap up the top five runners on the men's side.
"Ryan Kinnane was excellent again. The goal this weekend was to challenge for a top-three spot individually and he came out with a runner-up in a top-level field," Kind said. "Ryan continues to build his resume and show he will be a threat come championship season. Cooper Atkins had a strong day as well in probably one of, if not the best cross country race he's had in an Auburn uniform. Carson, Louis, and Max grinded out solid efforts to back those guys up."
Up Next
Auburn will be back in action Friday, Oct. 13 to compete in the Crimson Classic at the Pritchett Running Course.
2023 Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown
Franklin Park
Boston, Massachusetts
Women's Results (5k)
7.Auburn, 143 points
Auburn Women's Individual Results
4.Gene Coetzee, 17:08.60
16. Hallie Porterfield, 17:36.80
33. Hannah Tarwater, 17:51.60
36. Mary Mac Collins, 17:54.30
57. Cady McPhail, 18:19.80
64. Ava McIntosh, 18:23.80
73. Shelby Balding, 18:29.70
79. Hannah Thuss, 18:33.10
91. Audrey Dunn, 18:46.60
114. Hailey Marston, 19:33.00
Men's Results (8k)
6.Auburn, 149 points
Auburn Men's Individual Results
2.Ryan Kinnane, 23:48.90
28. Cooper Atkins, 24:43.60
33. Carson Bedics, 24:51.40
43. Louis O'Loughlin, 25:05.40
51. Max Hardin, 25:15.00
58. Fuji Anday, 25:20.00
73. Dustyn Lewis, 25:36.10
74. Dustyn Perry, 25:41.80
94. Ethan Snyder, 25:59.70
97. Benson Atkins, 26:05.40