MARYVILLE, Tenn.--- The Asbury men's and women's cross country teams each earned second place out of seven teams on Friday evening in Maryville, Tenn., at the Maryville Invite. AU junior Bailey Gassmann secured second place individually out of 65 runners while senior Dan Kersey finished third of 70 competitors in the men's race.
The Asbury men had previously lost to Maryville earlier in the season at Berea, but recovered on Friday to narrowly defeat the Scots on our home course. AU took the win over CCS opponent Maryville, 53 to 62.
Both Asbury teams defeated all college and university varsity teams but placed behind the University of Tennessee Running Club team, which featured several graduate students and former UT varsity runners. Some of the other opponents in the races included Tusculum, Johnson University, Tennessee Wesleyan, and Union.
Kersey led the Eagles with his third-place finish, with his freshman teammate Jesse Gassmann not far behind. The breakthrough and difference maker for Asbury this week was the performance of junior worship arts major Josh Rittgers, who placed 10th overall in what was easily his best performance of the season.
Gassmann, the reigning Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Runner of the Week, had a great performance once again, not far off from her school record race of a week ago on a much harder course. Emma Groff and Brooke O'Carrol were both outstanding with top-10 individual finishes for the Eagles.
"This was a fun and unique course that featured trails through the woods and stairs to climb several times during the race! We were in over our head with the runners from the University of Tennessee, but I was pleased that we defeated all of the other teams, including several schools we rarely race against."
Sent from my iPhone.
Race Results
"This was a fun and unique course that featured trails through the woods and stairs to climb several times during the race! We were in over our heads with the runners from the University of Tennessee, but I was pleased that we defeated all of the other teams, including several schools we rarely race against."
Randy Crist | Asbury Cross Country Head Coach
This race completed the regular season for AU, heading toward their upcoming CCS Championship races in Huntsville, Ala., on October 31.
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