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Cisco, Elick keep pushing envelope; nab fifth, ninth place finishes at Live in Lou Cross Country Classic
Posted: Oct 05, 2024

Cisco, Elick keep pushing envelope; nab fifth, ninth place finishes at Live in Lou Cross Country Classic

Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The duo of Olivia Cisco and Jessica Elick are, in a word, lethal on the respective cross country courses that the pair run on.

That fact was definitely true to form, once again, Saturday afternoon at the 5K Women's Silver Race in the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic -- as Cisco ran a 19:11.9 to finish fifth while Elick collected a 19:38.6 to obtain ninth in a 204-runner cross country field at the Louisville, Ky.-based event Saturday afternoon.

Behind the above duo's high placements, Shawnee State was able to claim a fourth-place finish out of 24 teams -- as the Bears collected 148 points as a unit. Only Indiana-East (126) and NCAA Division II competitors Point Park, Pa. (104) and Urusline (79) finished above Shawnee State, and the Bears also defeated NCAA Division I units in Evansville and Tennessee State at the event.

As a group, Shawnee State, who ran a 21:10 average as a team in the same event last October, reduced its average by 47 seconds to 20:23 in the 2024 version of the event.

"I am proud of our women team's progression all around," Flynn said. "We averaged 21:10 at this meet last year and 20:23 today. Our main goal is to continue to progress as a team, and I know that will continue."

Leading the charge at every stop, Cisco posted a standout time -- as the junior ran a blistering 19:11.9 to post one of just seven times in the 204-runner field under a 19:30.

In doing so, Cisco posted a personal best that was 13 seconds faster than her previous PB of 19:24.7 -- and nearly one minute and 29 seconds faster than her time of 20:40.2 posted last year at the same Live in Lou event.

Elick, meanwhile, continues to showcase similar progression -- as the sophomore from Frankfort, Ohio ran a 19:38.6 to place ninth.

It was the Adena High School graduate's second consecutive personal best in a 5K race, a near 32-second PR, and a massive one-minute, 23-second improvement from her performance in the same Live in Lou event in 2023.

"Olivia Cisco and Jessica Elick continue to show up and have been a constant up front for this team," Flynn said. "Both set a PB and have set their team up for success."

Following them, Juniper Allen continues to be a consistently productive No. 3 runner for the Bears, as the sophomore ran a 20:33.4 to place in 33rd. Allen beat her previous personal best in the 5K as well -- notching a 10.5 second improvement in that department with Saturday's performance as well as a 33.5-second jump from her 2023 performance in the Live in Lou.

Sydney Reed's 21:15.5, Beth Middleton's 21:16.9 and Kirsten Evans' 21:26.1 were next up on the board -- as the trio finished 60th, 61st and 70th respectively.

Reed beat her personal best by nearly a full second and last season's performance in the Live in Lou by over 47 seconds while Evans made one of the biggest jumps of all, running a personal best time that was 50 seconds faster than her previous PB and a mark that was a whopping two minutes and three seconds faster than the Jackson County native's run at the Live in Lou event in 2023.

Last but not least, Amanda Salmons' 98th place finish meant that all seven Bears that ran in Saturday afternoon's event all finished in the top half of the Live in Lou field.

Salmons, true to regular form, finished off the 2024 Live in Louisville Cross Country Classic with a personal best that was nearly five seconds faster than her previous PR.

"The top teams in the River States Conference, for the women, are a close battle with several good teams," Flynn said. "We are aware that we must be ready to compete each time out. We are in a good spot, but we believe that we are capable of more. In the coming weeks, I am looking for our women's team to stay focused on our goals, and do what is needed to place us in the best position towards the end of the season."
 
The women's cross country program at Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 26 at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge in what will be the program's final regular season meet prior to the River States Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9.