Tyler Byrne Leads Louisville Men’s Cross Country at Greater Louisville Classic

Tyler Byrne became just the second Cardinal to win the individual men’s title.

 

October 1, 2011

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On a cool and windy Saturday morning, University of Louisville men’s cross country runner Tyler Byrne became just the second Cardinal to capture the Greater Louisville Classic individual title at E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer State Park, leading the No. 27-ranked men’s team to a second-place finish. The only other Cardinal to win the race was Wesley Korir, achieving the feat in 2004 and 2005.

 

Byrne, a sophomore from Georgetown, Ind., navigated the 8,000-meter course in 23:47.12 to collect his second collegiate cross country victory. Despite jostling with the 240-man field throughout the race, Byrne broke free around the final 100m to finish two seconds ahead of the runner-up.

 

“I knew there was a bunch of really good runners here today, so I had to progressively get faster throughout the race and still maintain position to get the win,” Byrne says. “I think with it being the home course always helps – knowing all the little turns and twists and where I want to be is an advantage in my mind.”

 

Following Byrne was redshirt junior Gordon Dooley, who registered a time of 24:36.35 to place 25th, with sophomore Mattias Wolter (35th in 24:46.70), senior Luke Lovelace (40th in 24:52.68) and redshirt senior Matt Bruce (49th in 24:58.02) rounding out the Cardinals’ five scoring runners. Elisha Metto made his collegiate debut.

 

“The team result didn’t end up the way we wanted it today, but Tyler Byrne did a great job,” head coach Ron Mann says. “As a team, we’ve got to run in a pack and become more aggressive from the gun. We had a couple of bad breaks and a couple of guys went down, but you stay in the moment, move through and look at the entire race. We have to stay together as a group, and we’ll do that. It’s early in the season. The positive is when we add Matt Hughes back in the mix, get Matt Bruce where he belongs, we’ll be better.”

 

On the women’s side, freshman Madie Davidson again was Louisville’s top runner. She finished the 5K course in 17:27.59 to place 16th, grabbing the team’s lone top-20 finish. The squad’s second placewinner was junior Ariel Briggs, checking in at 76th, with freshmen Michelle Molodynia (113th) and Megan Klein (188th) and junior Cassie Martin (211th) rounding out the team’s five scoring runners.

 

“Madie Davidson ran a great race,” Mann adds. “She kept her nose in it the entire time. She was with the lead pack at two miles and it moved away from her at that point. She’s a freshman and she’s making freshman decisions, but she’ll continue to get better and we’ll see her move into that lead pack. She’s doing very good things, though, right now.”

 

Next up on the Cardinals’ slate is the Indiana State Pre-Nationals on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute, Ind., at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.

 

For all of the latest information on Louisville cross country and track and field, log on to UofLsports.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvilletrack.

 

MEN’S TEAM RESULTS

1. Purdue, 113; 2. LOUISVILLE, 150; 3. Albany, 156; 4. Western Kentucky, 168; 5. Southern Illinois, 208

 

MEN’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1. Tyler Byrne, 23:47.12; 25. Gordon Dooley, 24:36.35; 35. Mattias Wolter, 24:46.70; 40. Luke Lovelace, 24:52.68; 49. Matt Bruce, 24:58.02; (108.) Evan Hibbs, 25:36.54; (130.) Ryan Eaton, 25:51.86; (161.) Andrew Stewart, 26:10.21; (191.) Elisha Metto, 26:41.77

 

WOMEN’S TEAM RESULTS

1. Michigan, 81; 2. Ferris State, 190; 3. Ole Miss, 202; 4. Purdue, 228; 5. South Florida, 232; 21. LOUISVILLE, 551

 

WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

16. Madie Davidson, 17:27.59; 76. Ariel Briggs, 18:17.50; 113. Michelle Molodynia, 18:35.19; 188. Megan Klein, 19:06.90; 211. Cassie Martin, 19:19.40; (223.) Maria Frigo, 19:33.88; (224.) Paige Dooley, 19:34.81; (242.) Kacey Cox, 20:02.23; (256.) Olivia Horvath, 20:55.92; (259.) Jessica Cooley, 21:25.47

 

-ig-

 

For More Information, Contact:

Ira Green, (502) 852-4857

Ira.Green@louisville.edu