The Alabama Crimson Tide placed in the top five teams at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama. The No. 23 men’s team placed third overall, and the No. 13 women’s team placed fourth.
Freshman Doris Lemngole led the women’s team with a time of 16:12.10 to win the first-place spot in the women’s 5K and win her first collegiate race. Along with Lemngole, senior Elka Machan and graduate student McKenzie Daniel finished in the top 20 of the 5K to help secure a spot for the team in the top five with a score of 108 points.
“We knew Doris was good coming in,” head coach Dan Waters said. “Coach Nick [Stenuf] and the whole staff has done a really good job making sure she’s happy, healthy and ready to compete for us in her freshman campaign. I’m proud of her performance today.”
On the men’s team, senior Jacob Harris, with a time of 23:58.40 in the 8K, finished in 11th place. Junior Carson Burian and freshman Hudson Hurst made the top 20. These performances helped the team to achieve 110 points and score third place.
After the meet, Waters said, “There were some really great things that happened today, obviously, like having Doris win her first collegiate race. On our women’s side, there were a lot of really good performances, as well as on our men’s side. Carson and Hudson, those guys did a very good job today.”
This was the second meet of the season for the cross-country teams. Previously, the Crimson Tide men’s and women’s cross-country placed first and second, respectively, at the Memphis Twilight meet. Their next meet on the road is the Joe Piane Invitational on Sept. 29 in South Bend, Indiana.
“We have pieces to plug in and we still have some work to do, but it’s a long season,” Waters said. “Everything’s in front of us, and that’s one of the biggest positives to take away. We can continue to get better as the weeks go on.”
