LOUISVILLE, K.Y.—In a meet that showcased a number of the nations' most talented runners, the Carson-Newman cross country team held its own, as the women placed 14^th and the men finished 16^th in their respected running divisions at the Greater Louisville Classic Meet this weekend in Kentucky.

"An overall much better showing than we had here last year," coach Tony Parrilla said following the meet. "I am extremely pleased with where we are heading into Fast Cats and the conference meet in the coming weeks."

The second largest cross country meet in the United States featured a plethora of schools from across all divisions, including a number of highly ranked Division I squads. The men competed in an eight-kilometer run, while the women took part in the five-kilometer race.

Once again Lachlan Dickie (Knoxville, Tenn.) lead the way for the men who finished 16^th out of 34 teams in the Men's Silver Division. The sophomore finished in 13^th place, with a time of 26:21.86, out of 306 total runners.

Jose Parrilla (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the second Eagle finisher, coming in 107^th place with a time of 28:13.02. Freshman Anthony Jackson finished in 137^th place with a time of 28:33.32 and sandwiched three other Eagles in the middle of he and Parrilla. Clark Dixon, Nick Guerra (Richardson, Texas.), and Alec Bross (Charlotte, N.C.) all finished with within the 28-minute mark.

Carson-Newman Men

On the women's side of things, Prischah Jemeli (Eldoret, Kenya) had a solid showing by placing 56^th with a time of 20:07.57 to lead the Eagles to a 14th finish in the Women's Silver Division. The freshman led all Eagle runners in the run, which showcased 209 total runners.

"The girls were hugely, hugely, better today than we were last year," Parrilla said. "All of our scoring girls broke the 21-minute mark."

Hannah Green (Talbott, Tenn.) closely followed Jemeli, finishing in 76^th place with a 20:19.92 time. Skye McCarter (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Ashlyn Page (Knoxville, Tenn.) followed suit by placing 99^th and 130^th, respectively, with times of 20:32.31 and 20:52.53.

Carson-Newman Women

"Pack running was key for both the guys and the girls today," Parrilla said. "From our second place guy all the way to our sixth place guy ran within the same minute. The girls were the same way and did an excellent job with pack running."

"We had some great individual performances today," Parrilla went on to say. "Some people didn't have their best stuff today but still ran really well."

Carson-Newman will look to carry the momentum on to next week, as they travel back up to Owensboro, K.Y. for the Fast Cats Classic Meet next weekend.

-CN-