MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College cross country programs opened their second season under the stars in the land of the delta blues.
Both the men's and women's teams recorded 11th place results at the City Auto Memphis Twilight Classic on Saturday, August 29 at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
The races began late into the evening. The Lady Tigers approached the starting line for their 5K event at 9:20 p.m. while the Tigers got their four-mile competition underway at the top of the next hour.
Northeast competed against a field of predominantly four-year institutions, including in-state Southeastern Conference (SEC) members Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).
"We had some SEC talent that we were racing against and that's always exciting," said Northeast head coach Aaron Hight. "Maybe there was a little intimidating factor there, but I'm really proud of the effort that my runners ran with."
There were five total NCAA Division I entrants. The Lady Tigers and Tigers both came in fourth among the two-year participants behind only nationally ranked teams from Calhoun (Ala.) Community College, Crowder (Mo.) College and Wallace State (Ala.) Community College at Hanceville.
A pair of freshmen paced Northeast in their collegiate debuts. Ryder Warhurst clocked in nearly two minutes quicker than any other Tiger with a final time of 22:28.60.
The trio of Sunshine Fulgham, Sarah Kate Childs and Eva Null all finished within a minute of each other. Fulgham led the way with a 21:14.26 with Childs (21:44.84) and Null (22:02.61) not far behind.
Briley Leslie also checked in among the top 100 runners individually with a 23:43.87. Another newcomer in Kaleb Thomas came in second among the Tigers' entries at 24:21.91.
"The freshmen didn't succumb to the big lights. They went out there and did everything I asked them to do," Hight said. "It was a great start to the season as far as if you're looking at where we started at last year. We're much more improved and I'm very excited."
Northeast shifts to a traditional morning setting on Saturday, September 6 for the Freed-Speed Invitational. The men take the course at the Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park bright and early at 8 a.m. with the women to follow.