Oct. 4, 2008
AUBURN, AL – The men’s and women’s Hawkeye teams both placed third in their respective events at this weekend’s Auburn Invite, hosted by Auburn University. Twenty-four men’s teams ran the 8,000 meter race and 23 women’s teams ran the 5,000 meter race. Iowa and Purdue were the only Big Ten teams present.
The women’s team earned their third place finish with an average team time of 17:02.14. Senior Racheal Marchand (5th, 16:15.50) was one of three Hawkeyes to place in the top 20 of over 200 runners, along with graduate student Sarah Spencer Perry (14th, 16:50.70) and freshman Brooke Eilers (15th, 16:53.95). A large Iowa pack crossed the finish in the top 50, including freshman Betsy Flood (36th, 17:34.40), sophomore Amanda Hardesty (37th, 17:36.12), and her sister, sophomore Lauren Hardesty (42nd, 17:40.89).
The men’s team also earned a third place finish with an average finishing time of 23:31.57. Jesse Luciano continued his impressive junior campaign with a fourth place finish and a time of 23:01.83 and led all the Hawkeyes. Senior Eric MacTaggart (11th, 23:24.61) and sophomore Sam Bailin (19th, 23:36.82) were among three Hawkeyes in the top twenty. Iowa placed eight runners in the top 50 of over 200 competitors.
The women’s cross country team will be in Terre Haute, IN, for Pre-Nationals on Oct 18. The men will either compete in Pre-Nationals or at the Bradley Invite on Oct 18.