LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Commodore men’s cross country squad put together its best performance of the season Saturday, earning a 13th place team finish at the Louisville Classic.
Led by recent SEC Freshman of the Week recipient Nicholas Laning, the Commodores defeated 16 other teams, including Southeastern Conference members Auburn and Mississippi State, at the invitational that attracted 29 squads from across the nation.
Head coach Steve Keith was delighted by the Commodores’ overall effort.
“I think it’s one of the most impressive team performances I’ve seen from our guys in a long time,” Keith said. “Nick put together another quality race and continues to demonstrate that he’s going to be an excellent runner. And I thought we got pretty solid support behind him.
“I’m very pleased with the entire day and looking forward to what the future holds for these guys,” Keith added.
Laning, the Illinois product who was coming off a stellar performance the Commodore Classic, put together another solid effort, finishing 39th in the field of 252 runners with an 8-kilometer time of 24:48.70.
Three Commodores – seniors Patrick Perrier and Jason Vincze and freshman Matthew Estopinal – were tightly bunched, running 70th, 72nd and 74th respectively. Perrier ran the 8K in 25:16.6, with Vincze timed in 25:18.2 and Estopinal finishing in 25:18.5.
Other Vanderbilt finishers were junior Aidan Livingston (No. 106, 25:40.4), senior Evan Suzman (No. 127, 25:47.0) and junior Harrison Thomas (No. 129, 25:48.0)
The Commodores are back in action Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Texas A&M Arturo Invitational in College Station.
