MADISON, Wisc.—The Utah Valley University men's cross country team placed 33rd in the 8K race, while the women finished 26th in the 6K event at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals at the Zimmer Championship Course on Saturday in Madison, Wisc.
 
The Wolverine men placed 33rd in the team competition in the Cardinal 8K race with a score of 810, finishing ahead of both Central Michigan (872) and Southeast Missouri (1128).

"It was an extremely great meet for us with 70 of the top teams in the country there today," said Utah Valley head coach Scott Houle. "Kevin (Lynch) had a really great performance as he was able to run among the top-30 which was a great to be up there among all the national powers. We had to pull two of our top runners out of the race due to injuries in the middle of the race. We struggled a little with the team score but as individuals we ran well. We found some good things out today and ran against some of the top teams in the country and get some good experience under our belt and hopefully we'll be able to use that in our conference championship coming up."
 
Kevin Lynch paced the men's team with a 27th-place finish in the 242-runner field, completing the 8K course with a time of 24:28.1. Hawk Call finished in 188th-pace with a time of 25:30.0. Geofrey Kemboi finished the course with a time of 25:53.0 to place 191st, while Lamek Keditukei came in 196th with a time of 26:00.3. Adrian Jones rounded out the UVU field with a 213th-place finish at 26:19.5.

Jared Gonzalez-Perez and Kale Sharp each competed in the men's 8K gray race with Gonzalez-Perez finishing 44th with a time of 26:11.68 and Sharp placing 57th at 26:24.71.
 
The women finished 26th on the 6K course in a strong national 35-team field in the Cardinal race. The UVU women finished just behind Arizona (663) in 25th place with a score of 679. The Wolverines finished ahead of Dayton, Portland State, Liberty, Auburn, Illinois State, Boston U, Baylor, Charlotte, and Tulane.

"On the women's side, we were led by Aisha (Graham-Perez)," said Houle. "She led the team through so that was a great thing for her. Hannah (Branch) had a pretty solid race. The team did a good job of grouping together and coming close to some personal best times. All and all, what we came here to do was gain some experience against some of the top teams in the country and we accomplished that today."
 
Aisha Graham-Perez led the Wolverines with 111th-place finish in the 234-runner field with a time of 21:49.9. Hannah Branch finished with a time of 21:53.5 to finish in 119th. Savannah Neuberger was 142nd at 22:10.8, while Maggie Zwahlen placed 152^nd at 22:19.2. Kami Lynch came in 155th-place with a time of 22:22.3 and Megan Nielson finished the course with a time of 22:50.6 to place 192nd. Mazzie Melaney came in 209th-place with a time of 23:12.8.
 
Abby Linford and Sky Jeppson competed in the women's 6K gray race with Linford finishing 61st with a time of 22:54.0 and Jeppson placing 80th with a time of 23:16.0.

Utah Valley now turns its attention on the WAC Championships slated for Oct. 27 in Seattle, Wash.