RYAN FORD MAKES SCHOOL HISTORY BY CLAIMING FIRST OVC MALE CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD
3/1/2021 8:40:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior University of Tennessee at Martin standout Ryan Ford made history on Monday afternoon by becoming the first Skyhawk to be named Ohio Valley Conference Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year in a vote of league head coaches at the conclusion of the 2020-21 OVC Cross Country Championship held at Weakley Park.
Two weeks later he traveled down to a loaded field to compete at the FSU Winter XC Classic against some of the nation's top teams and showed he belonged. He posted a 16th place finish with a PR time of 23:54.6 in the 8k event to record the third fastest time in program history.
Then in the final tune-up of the season, he earned his second OVC Runner of the Week honor after posted a blazing 4.5 mile time of 22:41.8 at the Golden Eagle Invitational as he trudged through snow and mud to best his closest competitor by over 38 seconds for both an individual and team title.
In today's OVC Cross Country Championship, Ford ran stride-for-stride at the head of the pack all the way to the finish line before ultimately finishing in fourth place with a time of 26:51.3. With his fourth-place finish, he earned his second All-OVC first team honor – joining his 2018 accolade – while posting the second-best place in school history at the championship event.
"I still think this is the best season we have had as a team when you look at the season as a whole," Ford said. "Then when you look at it as an individual, for me, it was my best season. A lot of times we are running our indoor (track) season right now and our focus is a lot different trying to prepare for the outdoor season, but instead we had to ramp it up for cross country. I think we will be able to turn this into a record-breaking outdoor season. We obviously had some ups and downs, but we had a record-breaking season because we had a great group of guys that just wanted to make it happen."
Hailing from Huntsville, Ala., Ford has been one of the best runners in the region while earning a pair of OVC Runner of the Week honors in 2021. He began the season by claiming an individual title and leading his team to a victory at the SEMO Redhawks XC Invite with an 8k time of 24:16.4 to lead the pack.Congratulations to @UTM_XC_TF senior Ryan Ford on being named the program's first OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year while claiming All-OVC first-team honors at the OVC Cross Country Championship today! pic.twitter.com/b7YKCZ1eDq
— UT Martin Athletics (@UTMSports) March 1, 2021
Two weeks later he traveled down to a loaded field to compete at the FSU Winter XC Classic against some of the nation's top teams and showed he belonged. He posted a 16th place finish with a PR time of 23:54.6 in the 8k event to record the third fastest time in program history.
Then in the final tune-up of the season, he earned his second OVC Runner of the Week honor after posted a blazing 4.5 mile time of 22:41.8 at the Golden Eagle Invitational as he trudged through snow and mud to best his closest competitor by over 38 seconds for both an individual and team title.
In today's OVC Cross Country Championship, Ford ran stride-for-stride at the head of the pack all the way to the finish line before ultimately finishing in fourth place with a time of 26:51.3. With his fourth-place finish, he earned his second All-OVC first team honor – joining his 2018 accolade – while posting the second-best place in school history at the championship event.
"I still think this is the best season we have had as a team when you look at the season as a whole," Ford said. "Then when you look at it as an individual, for me, it was my best season. A lot of times we are running our indoor (track) season right now and our focus is a lot different trying to prepare for the outdoor season, but instead we had to ramp it up for cross country. I think we will be able to turn this into a record-breaking outdoor season. We obviously had some ups and downs, but we had a record-breaking season because we had a great group of guys that just wanted to make it happen."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 3, Episode 11
Tuesday, November 04
OVC Cross Country Championship w/ Luke Johnson
Friday, October 31
OVC Cross Country Championship w/ Jolyta Fuller
Friday, October 31
OVC Cross Country Championship w/ Maggie Roy
Friday, October 31