Texas A&M-Commerce sophomore Tyler Tyndell finished 21st among collegiate runners and 28th overall to lead the Lions men’s cross country team to a 12th place overall finish at the Brooks Memphis Twilight Cross Country Classic.
The meet is held in an unusual format as the meet is held in the evening and it is the largest of its kind in the nation.
In a field with 42 colleges and universities as well as 341 runners, the Lions were third among NCAA Division II teams. Division I foe Drake University won the team title with five runners in the top 23.
A&M-Commerce defeated No. 3 Alabama-Huntsville (they were 13th), No. 5 Columbus State (they were 22nd), No. 9 Christian Brothers (they were 18th) in the NCAA South Regional Rankings and the only Division II schools that finished ahead of A&M-Commerce were Harding, who is No. 1 in the NCAA South Regional Rankings and Missouri Rolla, who is third in the Great Lakes rankings.
Daniel Kirwa, an unattached runner, won the 8k race in 23:30.35 as Tyndell crossed the line to lead A&M-Commerce in 25:33.30. 36 seconds separated the next two A&M-Commerce runners, sophomore Alfredo Soto was 42nd in 26:01.13 and sophomore Gerardo Delafuente was 75th in 26:37.70.
The next two Lions were separated by less than 20 seconds as Brandon Womack was 110th in 27:09.93 and and Robert Reed was 122nd in 27:29.19. Freshman Kelly Logan was 173rd in 28:32.22, freshman Kasie Carell was 203rd in 29:19.33 and senior Lance Smith was 326th in 35:01.82.
On the women’s side, the Lions took 35th place out of 41 colleges and university and a field of 329 runners.
A&M-Commerce freshman Kate Donovan led the Lions with a 170th-place finish in the 5k race, finishing in 21:51.69.
Whitney Kerth of Arkansas-Little Rock won the individual title in 17:22.19. Drake also took the team title edging out Saint Louis, 97-to-99. The Bulldogs had three runners in the top 20.
For the remainder of the Lions lineup, freshmen Esther Fernandez and Janna Lane were separated by just under 21 seconds, 22:26.66 (189th) and 22:47.36 (197th), respectively. Freshman Amanda Martin was 232nd in 25:26.12 and teammate Makisha Brewer was 235th in 25:44.04.
The next meet for the Lions will be the Lone Star Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Eddie Moore Park in Commerce.