THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Women's Cross Country team sent a reduced squad to the Lone Star Conference Championship course to race in the Mustang Open. They placed fifth overall, giving an opportunity for the younger members of the team to show how they have improved and what it takes to race on the travel squad.

The DBU scoring was headed by freshman Emily Kern, running her collegiate-best 5k mark of 20:18.6, good enough for 21st. Yariveth Morales was next in 25th, finishing with her collegiate-best 5k with a time of 20:30.5. It was freshmen who cleaned up the scoring from then on with finishes from Sam Folsom, Honor Pearson, and Maddy Seguin. All three notched collegiate-best marks with times of 20:57.5, 21:17.8, and 21:18.9, finishing 36th, 40th, and 41st, respectively.

For the first time this year, the weather had the nip of changing seasons, bringing with it the feel of a late-season race. With the sun rising later in the morning, the warm-up was under the cover of darkness with the light of the sunrise just beginning to illuminate the sky when the gun went off. Kern was off the line quickly, leading the entire race for the first 800m before falling back into the pack. Through the mile, the spread of the ladies had already settled, and the positioning nominally changed as the race progressed. Morales led DBU in the second mile, nudging ahead of Kern, but was passed up in the last 1200m. Folsom was consistent from start to finish, followed by Pearson and Seguin who rallied together throughout the race.

Midwestern State, the hosts of the meet, will also host the LSC Championships on the same course on November 5th. River Creek Golf Course has the makings of being a tactical course with a good hill at the beginning of the loops followed by long, gradual uphill and downhill grades. The manicured grass, even in the roughs, was far from hindering, making spikes an obvious footwear choice. Those who use the downhills to their advantage should find themselves in competitive positions later in the race, which ends on a long downhill straightaway.

HEAD COACH JACOB PHILLIPS ON PREVIEWING THE LSC CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE
"This morning was a great opportunity for us to get out and preview the conference course. I thought that the young men and women who raced this morning did a
tremendous job of just getting out and focusing on competing against the competition that was there! We definitely got better this morning and got some valuable experience racing on the conference course."

UP NEXT
Before DBU takes on the LSC, they will host the first annual Old Glory Gallup. The race will be hosted at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, Texas on October 15th. For more information about the meet, visit the Old Glory Gallup website.