LAWRENCE, Kan. – Highlighted by a 31st place finish and school record from junior Keith Meyer, SIUE men's and women's completed the last race of the season at the Midwest Regionals.
Meyer ran the 10K in a personal best 30 minutes, 55 seconds, placing him 31st overall. The previous record of 31:34.0 was held by Clint Kliem and set at last year's regionals in Peoria, Ill.
The men's team placed 16th out of 26 teams with a total of 419 points, which marks the team's best finish in the Division I era and six places better than the 2014 finish.
"Our goal was to improve upon last year, and they definitely achieved that," said Distance Coach Kayla Brown.
Nick Moore (31:33.9, 62nd), Clint Kliem (31:55.8, 91st) and Scott Woodard (32:03.2, 97th) recorded top 100 finishes to end the season. Moore's time put him just under Kliem's record from a season ago, and he now sits at No. 2 all-time at SIUE with his 57-second personal best race.
Rounding out the top five for the Cougars was ben Scamihorn, finishing in 33:31.9.
The women's team finished 27th out of 32 teams, with Erin Kennedy leading the way. She completed the 6K in 22:29.3, finishing 130. Just behind Kennedy was freshman Allie Sweatt, finishing in 22:31.8 and 131st place.
"The growth on the women's side is exciting to see," said Brown. "They gave it their all and worked nicely as a group. I am very excited about the close gap between our top five."
Jess Clarke (22.58.4), Haley Miller (23:10.1) and Conradette King (23:14.9) completed the top five scorers. Haley Briggs also competed in her last race as a Cougar, finishing in 26:26.6.
The first four finishers on the women's team finished ahead of the top SIUE finish a year ago, showing increased improvement.
"I'm really proud of them all, but I want to thanks the seniors for pushing the team to be their best," said Brown.
