Racers Led by Kimutai Placed Third Overall at Belmont

Friday, September 2

Nashville, Tenn.

Murray State

Belmont

Photo by: Adit Wratsangka - Murray State Athletics

9/2/2022 5:54:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

Results

Murray State women's cross country placed third overall at season opener

The Murray State women's cross country team placed third with a score of 97 at the Belmont Opener.

Ruth Kimutai led the group with an average pace of 6 minutes 5 seconds per mile. Kimutai finished strong in the final mile to finish 12th out 57 with a time of 18 minutes 55.005 seconds.

"Ruth puts herself in a really good position since the start of the race, going out in a 5:30 (first mile)," said Jordan Johnston, cross country coach.

Close to thirty seconds behind was Jocelyn Host who ran the race with an average pace of 6 minutes 14 seconds per mile, placing 17th with a time of 19 minutes 24.711 seconds. Freshman Samantha Tucci was able to trim more than a minute off her personal best time to finish the race 18th with a time of 19 minutes 26.583 seconds.

Tucci and Host has been working together in practices and they were neck-to-neck throughout the entire race.

Amirr Evans set her own pace throughout the race, finishing 28th with a time of 20 minutes 7.511 seconds.

Allison Wood and Ainsley Smith are another pair that have been working together, they dropped time in the second mile but was able to come back in the third to finish 30th and 33rd respectively.

"If those two can be more engaged in the second half of the race, I think we can have a really good top-five," Johnston said.

To round up the roster, Breanna Day finished 34th with a time of 20 minutes 40.597 seconds.

"Breanna has the most even pace which we have been working on for the past few years, so it's great to see an improvement in that area," Johnston said.