TROY—The Alabama State University cross country teams started the 2010 season on a positive note at the Troy Invitational. Both the men and women finished third in team standings behind Auburn and the host-team Troy.
The ASU men collected 89 points to finish behind Auburn University (35) and Troy University (51). The Hornets had two runners finish among the top-10. Jephtah Kenei was the top ASU runner with a fifth-place finish while Charles Flewellen finished 10th.
Christopher Duncan was the next runner for the Hornets with a 13th place finish while Albert Florvil (30th), Cody Pace (31st) and Jerell Mumford (38th) had solid performances.
The ASU women finished with 58 total points trailing host and invitational winner Troy University (37) and second-place Auburn University (42).
Reigning SWAC Runner of the Year Kesia Derilus was ASU's top finisher. She finished the course in third place while teammate Soyong Smith finished in eighth.
Lutrisha Altidor (12th), Breana Kelly (16th) and Simone Buford (19th) had top-20 finishes and Rahemma Hodges finished 28th.
“I was really glad the men and women finished in the top three in both races,” Head Coach Ritchie Beene said. “This was really good competition for the first race of the season. Anytime you can go out and run against SEC, Sun Belt and MEAC schools and finish third, I think it says a lot about our men and women.”
“Keisia finishing third and Soyong finishing eighth were strong for the women's team. Soyong is a freshman and a walk-on and we were expecting her to do well, but this finish was something extra for us.”
“I was impressed with the guys in today's race,” Assistant Coach Michael Snapp said. “We had two guys finishing in the top-10 and I was extremely pleased with the way Kesia ran on this course this year. It was a little different than last year and she showed some improvement from last year's race.”
Even with the strong finish in the first race of the season, ASU is planning on showing improvement over the course of the season in anticipation of facing some of the same teams again down the road.
“I think the overall competition showed a lot about ASU,” Beene said. “But we are not going to settle for our performance today because we will face Troy and Auburn again and we need to close that gap. I want it to be a chore for Auburn and Troy to beat us next time they face us.”
ASU had several alumni and former head coach and SWAC Hall of Fame member Horace Crump attend today's races.
“We were so pleased to have several ASU cross country alumni and Hall of Fame Coach Horace Crump to attend today's races,” Beene said. “Our runners were excited to see them and they really encouraged our runners to perform well.”
The women will be back in action on Sept. 12 when they travel to Huntsville for the UAH Invitational. Both teams will travel to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 18 for the Crimson Classic.
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