SKYHAWK SEASON IN REVIEW: CROSS COUNTRY
3/27/2020 10:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
MARTIN, Tenn. – Through the end of the 2019-20 academic year, we will be posting a season recap for each University of Tennessee at Martin athletic program. This edition of the "Skyhawk Season in Review" series features both the men's and women's cross country squads.
Last fall, the Skyhawk cross country season was a year of transition as Kevin Mangan was named the eighth head coach in program history while welcoming a talented stock of new athletes into the fold. While many of the faces and uniforms were new to the program, the team rose to expectations throughout the season.
Highlighting the season individually was junior Alexis Grandys who made history by becoming the first Skyhawk (male or female) to be named Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Grandys ranked as one of the top athletes in the region throughout the season while earning a trio of OVC Runner of the Week honors. She posted an event victory at the SIUE John Flamer Invitational while running the second-fastest 5k time in the OVC at 17:22.9 at the Chile Pepper Festival. She then shattered her previous 6k PR by nearly two minutes to post the fastest regular-season 6k time in the OVC at 21:19.3 at the Bradley Pink Classic.
After strong build-ups heading into the OVC Cross Country Championship, UT Martin continued its steady rise up the scoring leaderboard. As a whole, the Skyhawks had a program-high five athletes earn All-OVC honors while equaling or exceeding the team's best finishes at the championship event.
Individually, Grandys garnered All-OVC first team honors by finishing in fourth place with a time of 17:56.8. The quartet of Erica Fisher (18:19.8, 11th), Agok Ayuen (18:31.9, 14th), Alex Schell (25:24.6, 10th) and Daniel Smith (25:26.6, 12th) garnered All-OVC second team selections with top-14 finishes. UT Martin finished fourth in the men's 8k race while securing fifth place in the women's 5k with both ranking as program-best placements.
At the NCAA South Region meet both teams held their own. The Skyhawk men finished 16th overall with Schell leading the scoring group for UT Martin which saw all five athletes record new PRs with a 55th place finish at 31:49.8. On the women's side, Grandys paced the Skyhawks and all OVC competitors with a 6k PR of 21:08.2 to place 39th and lift the team to 17th in the region – four spots higher than in 2018.
Last fall, the Skyhawk cross country season was a year of transition as Kevin Mangan was named the eighth head coach in program history while welcoming a talented stock of new athletes into the fold. While many of the faces and uniforms were new to the program, the team rose to expectations throughout the season.
Highlighting the season individually was junior Alexis Grandys who made history by becoming the first Skyhawk (male or female) to be named Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Grandys ranked as one of the top athletes in the region throughout the season while earning a trio of OVC Runner of the Week honors. She posted an event victory at the SIUE John Flamer Invitational while running the second-fastest 5k time in the OVC at 17:22.9 at the Chile Pepper Festival. She then shattered her previous 6k PR by nearly two minutes to post the fastest regular-season 6k time in the OVC at 21:19.3 at the Bradley Pink Classic.
After strong build-ups heading into the OVC Cross Country Championship, UT Martin continued its steady rise up the scoring leaderboard. As a whole, the Skyhawks had a program-high five athletes earn All-OVC honors while equaling or exceeding the team's best finishes at the championship event.
Individually, Grandys garnered All-OVC first team honors by finishing in fourth place with a time of 17:56.8. The quartet of Erica Fisher (18:19.8, 11th), Agok Ayuen (18:31.9, 14th), Alex Schell (25:24.6, 10th) and Daniel Smith (25:26.6, 12th) garnered All-OVC second team selections with top-14 finishes. UT Martin finished fourth in the men's 8k race while securing fifth place in the women's 5k with both ranking as program-best placements.
At the NCAA South Region meet both teams held their own. The Skyhawk men finished 16th overall with Schell leading the scoring group for UT Martin which saw all five athletes record new PRs with a 55th place finish at 31:49.8. On the women's side, Grandys paced the Skyhawks and all OVC competitors with a 6k PR of 21:08.2 to place 39th and lift the team to 17th in the region – four spots higher than in 2018.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
Wednesday, May 13
Wednesday, May 13
Tuesday, November 04
Friday, October 31