TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Experience led the way for Auburn cross country Friday morning at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals as seniors Tommy McDonough and Joyce Kimeli were the top finishers for their respective Auburn squads.
Across both teams, six Tiger runners posted personal record times in the meet, four from the men's side and two from the women's.
In the men's 8k, it was McDonough, crossing the finish line in 24:22.40 to lead the Tiger pack. Sophomore Ryan Kinnane followed suit with a personal-best 24:34.80.
Rounding out the men's finishers were sophomore Carson Bedics (25:14.40), senior Jackson Thomas (25:21.00) and freshman Cooper Atkins (25:21.20), all of whom posted collegiate best 8k marks to push the team to a 36th place team finish in the event's premier Garnet race.
It was Bedics who showed the most improvement, running more than 46 seconds faster than his previous best set at the 2020 Commodore Classic.
"The guys did a good job handling some adversity," said Tigers head coach Aaron Kindt. "We didn't execute the game plan during the first part of the race, and it put us in a pretty tough spot, but they hung in there and ran really hard. It was a solid performance, but I know they're hungry for a lot more."
The average pace for the Auburn men in the 8k was 24:58.76.
Kimeli clocked a 20:10.90 to nab a top-10 finish in the women's Garnet 6k as the top Tiger runner. It is the second top-10 finish for the Eldoret, Kenya native in as many meets.
Second to cross the finish line for the Auburn women was senior Presley Weems (22:21.00). Following Weems was junior Sara Pacer (22:23.80), sophomore Samantha Rogers (22:24.60), senior Louisa McPherson (22:54.1), freshman Hallie Porterfield (23:12.30) and freshman Hannah Thuss (23:12.90).
"The women ran a lot better, as a group, than they did the last time we were here," Kindt said. "We've made a lot of strides, but the next step for us is lining up and beating some of those teams that we're not supposed to beat."
Porterfield and Thuss both chiseled down their previous best 6k times to post new personal records and assist the women's squad to a 29th place team finish and a 22:02.88 average pace.
Up Next
The men and women of Auburn cross country head to Columbia, Mo. for the 2021 SEC Championships on Friday, Oct. 29.
2021 FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals
Apalachee Regional Park
Tallahassee, Fla.
Men's Results (8k)
36. Auburn, 930 points
Auburn Individual Results
120. Tommy McDonough, 24:22.40
144. Ryan Kinnane, 24:34.80
227. Carson Bedics, 25:14.40
239. Jackson Thomas, 25:21.00
240. Cooper Atkins, 25:21.20
Women's Results (6k)
29. Auburn, 762 points
Auburn Individual Results
10. Joyce Kimeli, 20:10.90
190. Presley Weems, 22:21.00
193. Sara Pacer, 22:23.80
194. Samantha Rogers, 22:24.60
214. Louisa McPherson, 22:54.10
222. Hallie Porterfield, 23:12.30
223. Hannah Thuss, 23:12.90