COLUMBIA, MO –
Dominic Malel made his debut for the Tigers in a big way at the Larry Young Invitational running both the second best time in program history and leading the team to the second best average team time.
Malel made an early move in the 6th kilometer of the race, where he gained a three-second gap on The Masters Jack Anderson. Anderson, who placed 8th at last year's national championship, was able to make up the ground on Malel over the final kilometer to secure the win. Malel, however, was able to close in even splits of (3:06 and 3:06) over the final two kilometers, running a time of 24:49.00.
Martin Batel and
Lukas Smithson were closer this week than last week's 22-second gap. Lukas closed the gap from the 2-3 to seven seconds, with Batel running 25:55.8, placing 8th, and Lukas running 26:02.1, placing 12th.
Jean-Benoit Merte was the fourth man in for Campbellsville behind Lukas at 26:21.5, placing 15th overall.
Myles Smithson was Campbellsville's fifth man on the day, with his performance of 26:45.6 and his landing a top-25 spot in the 24th.
Samuel Bennett dipped under the 27-minute barrier for the second time this season as the sixth man in 26:59.3, placing 29th.
Making his first top-seven appearance of his career,
Brayden Kaelin ran 27:49.1, placing 55th in the race.
Campbellsville averaged a time of 25:58.00 as a team, which is now the second fastest time in program history behind the 2018 national championship performance of 25:54.00. As a team, the Tigers finished runner-up with 60 points and a 1-5 spread of 1:56. #6 Ranked The Masters won the meet with 19 points, Malel broke up the chance at a perfect score.
The team will now have a week off before returning to one of the premier meets in the nation at the Greater Louisville Classic on October 5th.
- This is the first time in Bennett's career that he has ran under the 27-minute barrier more than once in a season.
- The Tigers 2-5 spread was 50.2 seconds.
- Malel ran the fastest debut time for a freshman in program history.
- The gap between second and third place was 101 points this week behind Campbellsville's second place finish.
