Richards posts second-straight top 10 finish at Georgia State

APSU Sports Information: APSU Cross Country

Hampton, GA – Sophomore Xiamar Richards finished 23rd to lead Austin Peay State Univeristy women’s cross country team to a sixth-place finish at the Georgia State Invitational, Saturday, at the Nash Farm Battlefield.

Richards finished the five-kilometer course in 24:10 for her second-straight top 25 finish. Host Georgia State’s Hannah Stefanoff won the even with a time of 22:23. Georgia won the team portion of the event with 10 runners among the top 25, scoring 28 points.

The Lady Govs finished with 162 points, just behind Ohio Valley Conference member Tennessee Tech’s fifth-place finish (160 points).

“Xiamar ran an okay race,” said head coach Doug Molnar. “She didn’t run the previous three days because we’re trying to keep her healthy. As a team we were just a little off and maybe a little tired as we’ve pushed our mileage the last two weeks. We’re going to stick with our plan and take the next couple of weeks to prepare for our next race.”

Junior Chantelle Grey showed improvement in Saturday’s race, finishing 45th with a time of 25:09. Sophomore Kendra Kirksey (48th, 25:17), senior Janelle Avery (49th, 25:20) and sophomore Miranda Weed (65th, 26:14) rounded out the Lady Govs scoring runners. Junior Alyssa Molnar (82nd, 28:37) rounded out Austin Peay’s effort.

Austin Peay returns to action in two weeks at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic, October 1st.