Women's cross-country opens season at UCO Land Run

The Lady Eagles kicked-off the season with a sixth-place finish in the University of Central Oklahoma Land Run on Saturday.

Cross Country Head Coach Wade Miller said he was pleased with his top five runners and saw good potential in the younger runners as well.

“Our top five are in a pretty good place right now,” Miller said. “Several of the girls are starting out faster than they have in the past and I know that they will continue to work and improve in the coming weeks. Layne Hammer had a really good race and showed a great deal of confidence during the race.”

Miller said his team would rely on a combination of both young and old runners to develop into a good team by the end of the year.

“We will be relying on a mix of veterans and freshmen and I think that the upperclassmen will play a big role in mentoring the younger ladies,” Miller said.

Top finishes for the Lady Eagles included Layne Hammer who posted a seventh place finish individually with her time of 18:53.97 on the 5,000-meter course.

Maci Rich placed 34th among the 117 finishers in 20:21.58. Following Rich was a pair of freshmen; Aubrey Watson, who was 51st in 20:52.56 and Rachel Meyers, who was 63rd in 21:28.94. Katie Jones made a huge jump on the final loop of the track to finish with a time of 21:35.33.

Miller said he would use the next few weeks as a resting period for the runners to prepare for their next race.

“We will use the next few weeks to recover from the race and prepare for a few key meets in October,” Miller said.