CHICAGO – Junior Theresa Hagey (Akron, Ohio) led the Ohio men's and women's cross country teams with a 14^th place overall finish and the second-best 6k time in program history (20:10.09, PR) as they concluded competition at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Friday. The women came in 10^th place (303 points) and the men finished 15^th (388 points).
 
Both groups faced off against some of the top teams in the NCAA and Great Lakes region. The women raced against runners from No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 25 Ole Miss, No. 26 Michigan, No. 30 Ohio State in addition to three other teams that received votes in the national poll. The men competed against opponents from No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 20 Tulsa, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 30 Michigan.
 
Finishing 14^th in a pool of 146 runners, Hagey's impressive performance was the best of all Ohio athletes. Sophomore Leila Boussedra (Worthington, Ohio) placed in the top 50 of the women's 6k race, coming in 40^th place with the third-best mark in program history (20:41.2, PR).
 
Sophomore Alyssa Mason (Dublin, Ohio; 21:37.4), sophomore Allie Martin (Kingwood, W. Va.; 21:40.2) and junior Kelsi Harris (Liberty Township, Ohio; 21:42.4) rounded out the top 100 performers for the Bobcats.
 
Fifth year Tony Tonkovich (Athens, Ohio) led the men's team in the 8k race with a time of 24:37.4, finishing in 58^th place overall. The Bobcats had five runners place in the top 100 of a 143 athlete pool.
 
Freshman Marcus Runkle finished in 76^th place (24:56.3) with sophomore Sam Beeler (Cincinnati, Ohio) crossing the finish line right behind him in 77^th place (24:56.4, PR).
 
Freshman Andrew Bracken (Westerville, Ohio) and sophomore Rocco DeVincent (Morgantown, W. Va.) rounded out Ohio's top performers in the men's race. Bracken finished in 88^th place and DeVincent came in 99^th place.
 
The men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the 2023 Pre-National meet in Charlottesville, Va.
 
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