MOBILE, Ala. – The West Florida men’s and women’s cross-country teams were well represented at the University of South Alabama Invitational track meet on Saturday.
On the women’s side, freshman Bailee Hedstrom raced to a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run.
High temperatures had an effect on the runners throughout the day, but Hedstrom, seeded fourth in the event, turned in a stellar 19:10 finish time for the 3.1 mile race, outdistancing the competition by more than 10 seconds.
Freshman Eddie Pagan competed in the 5,000 on the men’s side, earning an eighth-place finish. This was his best performance as an Argonaut, shaving nearly 40 seconds off his previous best time with an eighth-place 16:20.4 finish.
“Eddie drafted on the second pack early on, and then maintained consistent splits, which gave him a chance to gut it out for a personal best,” said head Coach John Bergen.
Pagan was the only entry for the Argos men’s team, which had to scratch three runners Saturday because of illness and recent injuries, and he did his part by picking up a top-10 finish.
Despite the heat, the race was relatively fast for the top 10 male finishers, with a 15:01 winning time for Robert Gunn of Alabama State University.
On the women’s side, Senior Shannon McDougall also placed higher than her seeding, finishing fourth with a time of 19:42. Freshman Stacy Paton finished eighth, despite injuries and a No. 12 seed. Paton finished the event in 21:02, which gave UWF three top-ten finishers.
Hedstrom let the top-seeded runners set the pace for the first mile.
“Bailee did a great job of sitting on the lead pack and then putting them away when they slowed to a comfortable pace,” Bergen said. “She won the race in the second mile, when everyone else settled into a comfortable pace. She did a great job of maintaining a strong consistent pace throughout.”
The race was held at 3:30 pm in the hot sun, and the Argos turned in strong performances while several others in the event could not hold the pace in the final mile.
“Bailee, Shannon and Stacy have had some strong workouts over the last two weeks, and their conditioning showed in the second half of the race,” Bergen said. “Stacy held on strong despite being slowed by injuries, and Shannon moved from sixth to second place from the fourth lap to the eighth lap, and, even though she fell to fourth in the final 800 meters, she stayed right with them.”
The UWF cross country teams will wrap up the spring season April 18 at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Ala. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
Be the first to comment on this article!