RYAN FORD GARNERS ALL-OVC HONORS AS SKYHAWKS COMPETE AT OVC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday, October 27

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

9 a.m.

UT Martin

OVC Championship

RYAN FORD GARNERS ALL-OVC HONORS AS SKYHAWKS COMPETE AT OVC CHAMPIONSHIPS

10/27/2018 3:06:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The University of Tennessee at Martin cross country squads returned to competition today at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships held in Cape Girardeau, Mo. at the Osage Center.

Leading the way for the Skyhawks was the standout performance of junior Ryan Ford who continued to pace the men's squad while finishing sixth overall to garner All-OVC first team honors with a time of 24:31 – finishing just a second off his 8k PR. The finish marked the best finish for the standout at the OVC Championship.

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The Skyhawk men saw Oisin O'Gailin, Daniel Smith, Leonel Perez and Marcos Macias round out the scoring five. Perez powered through the course for a new PR of 26:15. The men moved their way to sixth in a deeply competitive field against fellow regionally ranked teams and nationally ranked Eastern Kentucky. With no graduating seniors on the men's team, the squad is set to only improve in conference competition in the future.

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On the women's side, freshman Breanna Alderton finished first for the Skyhawks, achieving a top-20 finish by placing 19^th with a time of 18:23.3 to narrowly miss out on All-OVC honors. Alderton was followed by another standout freshman Breanna Roy who posted a time of 18:35. Both women ran extremely impressive races for inexperience underclassmen on a competitive and difficult course.

Lydia Lee, Alexis Grandys and Marie Vandermael rounded out the women's team for a sixth place team finish. Vandermael finished with a new PR of 19:22 on an extremely tasking course. The top-seven finishers for the women will all be returning next year to propel the women's team in the OVC Championship race and future rankings.

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"The athletes left it all out there today and we are proud of the effort from every Skyhawk," UT Martin head coach Peter Dalton said. "Specifically, Ryan deserves the recognition. He ran tough and smart today and took his spot on the All-OVC first team. Backing him up were great efforts from Daniel, Leonel and Marcos. Lastly, the freshmen ladies really rallied together today and the future is bright for the women's squad."

UT Martin will return to action at the NCAA South Regional to be ran in Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday, Nov. 9.