5 Blue Knights Set Personal Bests at WC

WILMINGTON, Ohio (October 12, 2012) - In the fifth race of the fall season, five Blue Knight cross country runners ran personal bests at the Wilmington College Fall Classic on Friday night.  Dylan McCubbin and Patrick Malloy (pictured) on the men's side, and Jackie Smith, Jade Roark and Sara White from the women's team all broke personal records to pace the Blue Knights on a crisp autumn night.  Neither team was able to log a team result as each ran a runner short of the five necessary to post a team score.  However, the men's team average of 32:51.50 in the 8K would have been enough to defeat 3 of the 34 teams in the field, and the women's team average of 23:39.25 in the 5K was a season best and faster than at least one other team in the women's field.

After finishing second to teammate Josh Brown in each of Urbana's last 2 races, newcomer Dylan McCubbin reclaimed the top spot with a team season-best of 30:52.  McCubbin averaged a 6:12 mile and finished better than over 70 other racers in the biggest field of the season for Urbana.  Like McCubbin, Malloy also set a personal best on Friday night, finishing just 8 spots behind his teammate in a time of 31:16.  He was just off McCubbin's pace, averaging a 6:17 mile.  Brown took third after pacing the Blue Knights in each of the past 2 races.  The junior crossed the finish line in 31:44, averaging 6:23 a mile.  The two-sport student-athlete made it back just in time for the men's basketball team photo.  Junior Ryan Castle rounded out Urbana's times with a 37:34, averaging a 7:33 mile for the duration of the near 5-mile race.

The story remained the same on the women's side, as Smith, Roark and White continued to re-write the team's record books.  Each runner posted a new personal record and all 3 finished in the Top 6 times all-time at Urbana for the second consecutive race.  Smith, again, just edged Roark for the top spot.  She beat her own school record by less than a second, crossing the finish line in 22:57.44.  Roark came across in 23:06.46, just 6 spots and 9 seconds behind Smith.  Both runners' average mile was in the 7:20 range.  White ran a new 4-year best.  The senior is peaking at the end of her career.  She crossed the line at Wilmington in 23:44.79, averaging 7:38 per mile.  Sophomore Melissa Bell just missed out on new personal record of her own.  Her time of 24:50 was just 2 seconds behind her top mark, and the team's top mark, set at last season's Wilmington Fall Classic.  Bell was able to keep her average mile under the 8-minute mark.

Next Saturday (October 20th), Urbana puts the finishing touches on its 2012 season under first-year Head Coach Kevin Horne.  Expect more records to fall as the Blue Knights run on a familiar course, Cedarville's Elvin R. King Course.  It's the third time this season Urbana has run at conference foe Cedarville.  [Men's Results][Women's Results]