ELSAH, IL – The Principia men's and women's cross country teams hosted their only home meet of the season on Wednesday afternoon with runners from Lyon College and Missouri Valley College joining the Panthers on the hilly North Farm Course. Principia juniors
Holland Thomas and
Nina Martinez finished first and third in their respective races to earn SLIAC Men's and Women's Runner of the Week.
The men's 8K went off first with the Principia men taking the top spot in both the race and team standings. Thomas led from start to finish with a strong home course personal best time of 28:37. Senior
Kennett Rampley finished second overall with a time of 30:11, while freshmen
Tyrone Merdian and
Rowan Kirkbride finished 20 seconds apart in seventh and eighth four minutes later. Senior
Augustine Magembe rounded out the Panthers top five in 15th at 36:46. Principia's combined team score of 33 ended up just one point ahead of Missouri Valley for first place.
The women's 6K began an hour after the men as the golden twilight set in. Martinez led for roughly the first three miles of the race, but the top runner from each of the opposing schools passed her towards the end. She ended up in third with a home course personal best of 27:51. Freshman
Lily Hohner finished fifth overall with a time of 30:14, and fellow freshman
Quintasia Evans finished 12th at 45:17.
FULL RESULTS
This was the third week this season that Martinez has taken home SLIAC Runner of the Week honors, while this is Thomas' first time ever winning the weekly award. The Panthers will host an alumni 5K on October 17th as a tune up before the big SLIAC Conference Meet in Louisville on October 31st.
