Maisvorewa makes cross-country debut
ZIMBABWE’S female sprinter Vimbayi Maisvorewa last Friday found herself in uncharted territory when she represented her school in the United States.
According to reports from Huntsville in Alabama, United States, Maisvorewa, who is more of a sprinter than a middle-distance athlete, made her cross country debut, running a time of 20:59.38 at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama.
The race was a 5km event and Maisvorewa, who is on an athletics scholarship at Auburn University in the United States, did not make it into the top 10.
Freshman Alexandra Walsh and sophomore Ava McIntosh led the Auburn women’s cross-country team at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville last Friday as Walsh finished with a time of 17:48.14 and McIntosh crossed in 17:48.38 on the 5km course at John Hunt Cross Country Running Park.
“Today was a bit of a rust buster for our group,” Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt told reporters after the race.
“We set out to work on a handful of things, particularly an aggressive first mile. Although we did not hit on every goal today, I believe we were able to take a lot of useful experiences from this meet.”
The Auburn women finished 13th of 49 teams with 387 points.
“Alexandra Walsh was very strong for us this morning,” Kindt said. “She showed no fear in her first collegiate race. She is someone to watch in the future here at Auburn.”
Racing for the first time in orange and blue, Walsh was the Tigers’ top finisher, placing 49th overall. Closely following Walsh was Huntsville native, McIntosh, who finished 50th.
“Ava McIntosh also with a steady performance for us,” Kindt said. “She worked her way back up with Alex and gave us a strong 1-2.”
Sophomore Audrey Dunn (18:17.31), sophomore Cady McPhail (18:42.50), and freshman Mary Malone (18:49.23) finished the top 5 for the women.
Junior Hailey Marston crossed the line at 19:51.54.
“We get back to work next week,” Kindt said.
“I’m excited about having the rest of our women’s team join the fold when we head to Missouri at the end of the month.”
Auburn will be back in action on Friday, September 27 to compete in the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri at the John Hunt Cross Country Running Park.