Lynx Get Off to a Fast Start at EIU

The men’s and women’s team competed in their first meet of the year at the 13 team Walt Crawford Open held at EIU. Both teams placed 9th . The women’s team was lead by freshman Hannah Singleton, she placed 32nd overall. She ran 19:20 for the 5k course setting a new school record. Others running in the Lynx top 5 was Natalie Hamilton(20:41), Whitney Wilson(23:36), Kayla Carrel(24:12), and Emily Thomson((24:54). The men were lead by freshman Albert Murrey he place 42nd overall with time of 26:24. This time places him 2nd on the Lynx top ten list. Murrey was followed closely by freshman Luke Padesky who placed 44th. He ran the 5 mile course in 26:27 placing him 4th on the Lynx top 10 list. Others running in the top 5 for the Lynx was Logan Volkey(27:47), Taylor Singleton(28:11), and Syruss Martin(28:13). Coach Herron said,” I thought we had a very good start to the season. We had three freshman make it on our top ten list in their first race and we had two more freshman barely miss making the top ten list. That was awesome! I think both teams have a very realistic chance to qualify for Nationals as long as we keep improving and working hard.”

The men’s and women’s cross country team had a great meet at ISU this weekend. Both teams finished 12th in the College Division out of 27 teams and both teams were the top Region 24 teams. The men’s team(ranked 10th) knocked off the 9th place team in the nation(DACC). They were lead by Albert Murrey who ran the 5 mile course in a new school record of 25:31, placing him 46th (top jc runner). Others that ran in the top 5 for the Lynx was Luke Padesky (25:54), Taylor Singelton(26:59), Alek Stojanovic (27:15), and Logan Volkey (27:22). The ladies team was once again paced by Hannah Singleton(top jc runner). She improved on her own school record and ran the 5k course in 19:05, placing her 23rd. Others that were in the Lynx top 5 were Natalie Hamilton(20:01), Ladydra Hickman((22:33), Kayla Carrel(23:25), and Emily Thomson(24:56). The ladies team knocked off the 12th team in the nation. Coach Herron said,” This was a great night for both teams. We had a lot of athletes step up and deliver tonight. All the hard work and sacrifice is paying off for them. Our ladies team wasn’t even ranked and they knocked off the 12th place team in the nation, that was awesome! This could be the best all around cross team that I have had. We have to stay focused because we know that all the other schools in our region will be coming for us.” Both teams will be in action again this Friday at Augustana College.

Lynx Backup Rankings

The men’s and women’s cross country team backed up their national rankings with great performances Friday night at Augustana College. Out of 33 teams represented the men’s team placed 10th and was the top placing two year college. They were once again lead by Albert Murrey, he placed 24th out of nearly 400 runners with a time of 25:42. Others running in the top 5 for the Lynx was Luke Padesky(40th), Alek Stojanovic(100th), Logan Volkey(118th), and Taylor Singleton(122nd). The ladies placed 20th overall and was the 2nd two year program. They were once again lead by Hannah Singleton. She placed 40th overall and ran the 6k course in 23:36. Others running in the top 5 for the ladies was Natalie Hamilton(86th), Ladydra Hickman(264th), Kayla Carrell(275th), and Emily Thomsom(284th). Coach Herron said, “This was another great night for our team. I was impressed at how focused they were. The men backed up their top 5 ranking and the ladies beat the 14th ranked team. They are really working hard and it’s paying off. We have this weekend off so we are going to push it hard. If we keep improving we could make some real noise at Nationals.”

The men’s and women’s cross country team had both meet champions at IWU over the weekend. Albert Murrey won the men’s race with a time of 27:01 and Hannah Singleton won the women’s race with a time of 20:09. The men’s team placed 2nd at the 8 team invite while the women’s team placed 5th. Others in the top five for the men’s team was Alek Stojanovic(6th), Luke Padeskey(8th), Taylor Singleton(14th), and Logan Volkey(16th). Other in the top five for the women were Natalie Hamilton(12th), Kayla Carrell(46th), Emily Thomson(51st), and Ladydra Hickman(55th). Coach Herron said,” It was great to have both meet champions, that’s the first time we have ever done that. I thought we did a pretty solid job overall. The course was about 300 meters long and was more changeling than I had expected. I saw a lot of our kids really battle through and out kick some kids at the end. We know we have even a harder course coming up in St. Louis next week so we will be working extremely hard to prepare.”

The Lincoln College cross country team competed in the St. Louis Classic over the weekend. The 13 team invite had several nationally ranked D3 and NAIA teams. The men’s team placed 6th. Albert Murrey was the Lynx top runner placing 10th with a time of 26:43. Others running in Lincoln’s top 5 was Alek Stojanovic(16th), Jose Padilla(33rd), Luke Padesky(40th), and Alex Lucas(41st). The women’s team places 8th. Hannah Singleton was Lincoln’s top runner placing 18th with a time of 20:20. Others running in Lincoln’s top 5 were Natalie Hamilton(25th), Ladydra Hickman(66th), Kayla Carrell(72nd), and Emily Thomson(82nd). Coach Herron said,” We may not have had the times that we wanted to hit at this meet but we had some runners really step up. This was also the toughest course that we have ran this year and that had a big impact on our overall times. As we head to our Region 24 Meet this Thursday running these harder courses should pay off.”

Hannah Singleton and Natalie Hamilton went 1, 2 at this year’s Region 24 Meet held at Eastern Illinois University. Singleton won the 5k race with a time of 19:15 while Hamilton ran the course in 20:09. Overall the ladies placed second behind DACC. Others running in the ladies top 5 were Ladydra Hickman(15th), Kayla Carrell(20th), and Emily Thomson(23rd). The men’s team placed 3rd. The top runner for the Lynx was Albert Murrey. He placed 6th, running the 5 mile course in 26:28. Others in the top 5 for the men were Luke Padeskey(7th), Alek Stojanovic(9th), Taylor Singleton(13th), and Logan Volkey(16th). Coach Herron said,” I was very happy with our ladies performances tonight we beat another team that was ranked higher than us in the National polls and most of them ran their best times of the year. Our men’s team did not do what I thought we could. We have a couple of our key runners battling injuries and they were just not as healthy as they needed to be to win the meet. We have two weeks to work on some things for the National meet. I expect us to perform much better in New Mexico.”

The men’s and women’s cross country team finished their season at the National Cross Country Meet held in Hobbs, New Mexico. There were over 50 teams represented on both sides of the race. Both teams battled some extreme wind and great competition The men’s team place 16th. Leading the way was freshman Luke Padesky. He placed 47th out of nearly 300 runners. Others running in the top five were Albert murrey(57th), Alek Stojanovic(115th), Syruss Martin(150th), and Alex Lucas(170th). The women’s team placed 25th and were once again lead by freshman Hannah Singleton. She placed 33rd out of nearly 270 runners. Others in the top five for the women were Natalie Hamilton(70th), Ladydra Hickman(173rd), Kayla Carrel(246th), and Emily Thomson(258th). Coach Herron said,” I was fairly happy the way our season ended. We haven’t had both teams finish in the top 25 in a few years so it felt really good to do that this year. They are a very hard working group of young men and women and I know that they will continue to get better. We only lose one sophomore out of this group for next year so expectations will be high again. “
The Lynx will be in action again on January 28th for the start of the indoor track season at IWU.