Herren runs cross country to fourth

This past weekend men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tenn. Both team placed well as the men's team finished fourth overall, while the women's team finished third.

"It was a good way for us to get our feet wet as a team, and allow our three freshmen that went to get their first collegiate race under their belt," said David Herren, a senior on the team.

Tech's top three runners, sophomore Greg Johnson, junior Nazar Trilisky and senior Paul Specht, were unavailable for last weekend's race. With this in mind, it made the men's performance that much more impressive.

The top finisher for the men was Herren. He finished 11th overall to lead the Jackets with a time of 15:14 in the 5,000 meters. His performance was good enough to merit him the ACC Cross Country Performer of the Week.

"There were seven guys right in front of me in the last 200 meters and I could not quite catch that pack," Herren said, as he described how his race went. "I did go out with the leaders though at the start. At the first mile mark, they dropped the pace and I was able to stick with them for the next couple of miles, but at the big hill near the three-mile marker, the leaders were able to increase their lead. Overall, I thought that it was [a] good effort."

Behind Herren, freshman E.C. Gibbs stepped up for the Jackets in his first collegiate race, finishing 18th overall, crossing the finish line with a time of 15:44. Sophomore James Taylor also placed well with a 27th overall finish and a time of 16:02.

"Overall, the men's team has a lot of work ahead. I'm challenging them every day and every week to get better, as well as challenging them to do the right things to get better," said head coach Alan Drosky.

On the women's side, the top runner was junior Nisha Kurian with a time of 14:03 in the four kilometer to place her third overall. Behind her was another junior, Elena Linn, who finished 10th overall and second on the team with a time of 14:27.

Behind Kurian and Linn, senior Mary Chind and junior Maria Hampton finished in the top 20. Chind crossed the finish line with a time of 14:48 placing her 16th overall, while Hampton finished 20th with a time of 14:56."The women had an excellent first meet. I feel like the women's team has very much improved, and has a lot of potential," Drosky said.

The Tech women's team went up against several high-quality schools. Among those schools were Tennessee, last year's NCAA South Regional champions, as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who finished fourth in the Regional. The men's team also faced off against quality competition, as they were defeated by Belmont, Western Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Next weekend, the Jackets will be traveling back to Ky. to compete in the Kentucky Invitational.