GOLDEN SUNS FINISH FOURTH AT ORANGE CRUSH INVITATIONAL; AOIFE COOKE TAKES HOME INDIVIDUAL TITLE

        CONWAY, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Women’s Cross Country returned to action after a two-week break and finished fourth out of seven teams Saturday at the Orange Crush Invitational hosted by Hendrix College.

Tech scored 93 points in the meet and finished nine points ahead of fifth place Hendrix College (102 points) and 11 points behind third place McMurry University (82 points). Central Arkansas won the 5,000-meter race as they scored 44 points, while Ouachita Baptist finished second with 59 points.

Despite its fourth place finish, junior Aoife Cooke (Youghal, Ireland), who was running in her first meet of the season, won the women’s individual title after running the course in a time of 19:21. In addition to Cooke’s finish, sophomore Kayla Waldrup (El Dorado, Ark.) finished ninth after running the course in a time of 21:03.

“It was nice to get Aoife back out running this season and she ran a good race,” Tech Cross Country coach Tom Aspel said. “Our times weren’t as good as I expected because the course was a little longer than it normally is.” 

Last season, Cooke became Tech’s first-ever All-American at the NCAA Division II level in cross country as she finished ninth at the D-II National Championship meet, which followed her first place finishes at both the Gulf South Conference Championship and the NCAA South Regional.

Other finishers for Tech behind Cooke and Waldrup were sophomore Brianna Greene (Harrison, Ark.), who ran a time of 21:39 to finish in 15th place overall, while junior Jessica Miller (Van Buren, Ark.) finished 45th overall after running a time of 23:47 and junior Molly Fleming (Cabot, Ark.) was the final Tech finisher as she ran a time of 27:26 to finish in 75th place overall.

Tech will continue is season next Saturday, Sept. 30, when they will compete at the West Florida Invitational in Pensacola, Fla. The meet will be run on the same course as the site for this year’s NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. 

TECH WOMEN – INDIVIDUAL
             Place          Name                  Time          Team Points
            1.                Aoife Cooke         19:21                 1
            9.                Kayla Waldrup       21:03                8
           15.               Brianna Greene     21:39               11
           45.               Jessica Miller         23:47               31
           75.               Molly Fleming        27:26               42    

           Complete Orange Crush Results   

           -- Tech Athletics --