Oct. 1, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Purdue cross country teams were back in action on Saturday and it was the men who claimed their third straight meet victory after taking the top spot at the prestigious Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic.
Senior Cale Allen was the top finisher for the Boilermakers after he took 12th place overall with a career-best time of 24:18.86. His previous best was 24:25.00 at last year's Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Classmate Charles White finished second on the team and 14th overall in the 8K after posting a 24:20.55, just 11 seconds off his career best.
Junior Stephen Schulz was next to finish and claimed 15th place. The individual winner of the Indiana Intercollegiate race two weeks ago finished with a time of 24:22.16, three seconds off his best collegiate finish. Senior Ladd Mercer took 33rd overall after crossing the finish line in 24:45.94. Scott Lasiter rounded out the scoring for Purdue after he posted a 24:52.15, good for 39th overall.
The men finished with a team score of 113. The next closest team was the host University of Louisville, finishing a whopping 37 points back with a total of 150. Louisville is currently ranked No. 27 nationally. The Boilermakers also topped Eastern Kentucky, which boasts the No. 26 spot in the country.
In the women's 5K race, Purdue claimed a fourth place finish overall. Dana Payonk was the top Boilermaker finisher for the third consecutive race. The redshirt freshman posted a time of 17:36.34, good for 20th place. Teammate Stephanie Bonk finished at nearly the same time as the senior took 21st with a time of 17:36.61. Kelly McCurdy earned 28th place points after posting a 17:44.25.
The University of Michigan took the top spot in the women's race. It finished with a team score of 81. Ferris State (Mich.) finished in second with a score of 190 and Ole Miss was third with a 202. The Boilermakers took fourth place with 228 points. Purdue finished ahead of West Virginia which took eighth and boasts the No. 24 spot in the national polls.
The men and women will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Richmond, Ind., to take part in the IU East Invitational. Start times for the races will be announced in the days preceding the meet.