Auburn Cross Country Team competed in the Wisconsin Badger Invitational in Madison, Wisc., last weekend.
The men's team finished 12th overall, and the women's team earned a ninth place finish.
Head coach Mark Carroll said the team's performance wasn't what they were expecting.
"Sickness set us back last weekend, and we weren't quite where we needed to be," Carroll said.
Junior runner Ben Cheruiyot led the men, finishing seventh overall with a time of 17:18.
"Ben really had a good run, as did Scott and Jean-Pierre," Carroll said.
Senior runners Jean-Pierre Weerts and Scott Novack finished 28th and 58th respectively.
The women's team was led by senior Holly Knight, who ran the race in 17:18, finishing fifth overall.
The next two Auburn women to finish were graduate student Stephanie Barnes (31st in 17:50) and senior Laurel Pritchard (70th in 18:49).
"Wisconsin was our first real test and exposed us to teams that we will see if we make nationals," Carroll said.
Sickness caused the Tigers' men to run a team with less experience than usual.
"It was good for our younger runners to get experience and exposure to big teams," Carroll said.
Carroll hopes to make NCAAs in his first season as head coach.
"I think we know what we need to do," Carroll said. "I think Alabama is a shoe-in to win the SEC, so we need to work hard to get second and beat FSU at regionals."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
