Friday, September 1
Nashville, TN
Murray State
at
Belmont Opener
Ruiz And Correia Lead Racers To Finish Fifth At Belmont Opener
9/1/2023 5:15:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Jorge Ruiz and Vicente Correia each saw top-20 finishes to open the 2023 season
The Murray State men's cross country team opened the season with a fifth-place finish at the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday. The team finished with a combined score of 139 in the 5,000-meter race.
All five runners with counting scores finished the race with average miles faster than five minutes and 30 seconds.
"We are happy to get Jorge Ruiz and Vicente Correia back for one more season," head coach Jordan Johnston said.
Ruiz led the way for the Racers, finishing seventh with a time of 15:19.7. He was just under four seconds shy of the fastest individual average mile.
The Galizano, Spain native bested his season-opening time in the 2022 Belmont Opener by nearly 20 seconds.
Correia started his senior season in 16th with a time of 15:40.3 to give MSU 12 points. Jarod Willis placed 44th with a time of 16:14.2. Willis beat his 2022 season-opening time by more than 30 seconds.
"Jarod has worked so hard for three years, that it's nice to see it really paying off for him," Johnston added. "He's consistently nailing his workouts and I am sure that we are going to see some big improvements in his 8k."
Seconds later Gabe Russell finished 47th with a time of 16:17.5 in his collegiate running debut. Nathan Quinn rounded out the scoring for the Racers, placing 78th with a time of 17:01.1.
"Gabe is a great new addition to the team," Johnston said. "Today he ran his fourth-fastest 5k of his life and I think this is only the beginning for him."
Murray State will travel to Bowling Green on Friday, September 15 to compete in the WKU XC Invite.
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All five runners with counting scores finished the race with average miles faster than five minutes and 30 seconds.
"We are happy to get Jorge Ruiz and Vicente Correia back for one more season," head coach Jordan Johnston said.
Ruiz led the way for the Racers, finishing seventh with a time of 15:19.7. He was just under four seconds shy of the fastest individual average mile.
The Galizano, Spain native bested his season-opening time in the 2022 Belmont Opener by nearly 20 seconds.
Correia started his senior season in 16th with a time of 15:40.3 to give MSU 12 points. Jarod Willis placed 44th with a time of 16:14.2. Willis beat his 2022 season-opening time by more than 30 seconds.
"Jarod has worked so hard for three years, that it's nice to see it really paying off for him," Johnston added. "He's consistently nailing his workouts and I am sure that we are going to see some big improvements in his 8k."
Seconds later Gabe Russell finished 47th with a time of 16:17.5 in his collegiate running debut. Nathan Quinn rounded out the scoring for the Racers, placing 78th with a time of 17:01.1.
"Gabe is a great new addition to the team," Johnston said. "Today he ran his fourth-fastest 5k of his life and I think this is only the beginning for him."
Murray State will travel to Bowling Green on Friday, September 15 to compete in the WKU XC Invite.
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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