ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Berry Men's Cross Country hit the road to compete in the Inter-Regional hosted by Augustana today.
As the reigning Southern Athletic Association (SAA) cross country champions, the Berry Vikings have large targets on their backs as they approach the SAA meet in early November. Berry's seasoned coach
Paul Deaton knows that keeping a high standard of excellence demands competing against the best teams in the country. Confident in his team's ability to toe the line against the best competition that Division III cross country has to offer, Deaton took the Vikings 13 hours north to compete with the nationally ranked competitors at the Augustana Inter-regional Invitational in Rock Island, Illinois. Berry placed 16th in a field of 40 against the most decorated competition they have toed the line with this season.
Out of all 15 teams that beat Berry to the finish line, eight of them are ranked amongst the top 30 teams in the nation according to the latest poll of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Furthermore, three top-five teams finished in the top three at the inter-regional on Saturday morning. No. 2 Wartburg took first place with a low score of 41. No. 5 North Central (Ill.) upset No. 4 UW-Whitewater for second place with a team score of 144 points. UW-Whitewater placed in third with 160 points on the morning.
In 16th place, Berry culminated a team score of 489. Establishing himself as a leader for the Vikings,
Tucker Wright ran another personal best for the fourth consecutive meet this season. The sophomore ran a low 24:42.2 for a 19th individual placement, running amongst All-Americans from across the country. Showing resilience, Wright was in 20th place as he approached his last kilometer of the morning. The Rome native was paced behind a Washington University competitor before he found a second gear, running his fastest split of the morning to overtake the red and green jersey and to break past the top 20.
Ethan Smith was the second Viking to finish with a time of 25:33.8 for 74th place. The junior was under two seconds away for a new personal record. To gather an idea of the fierce competition, had Smith finished a mere two seconds sooner, he would have broken the top 70.
Troy Blackwood and
Peter Ivester were the next two Vikings to turn in their timing chips, achieving 122nd and 169th, respectively.
Joey Kowalczewski, the last Berry runner to contribute to the scoring, ran a season best of 26:34.30. This was the first time that the senior creeped into Berry's scoring roster thus far this season. Luckily, it came at a critical moment. In 188th, the Calhoun native secured 16th place for the blue and white squad.
The Vikings will have a few weeks of rest before lacing up to defend their title at the SAA conference meet on Nov. 2 in Memphis, Tenn. The gun will sound at 12:00 p.m.
