HUNTSVILLE, Ala. | South Alabama runners Kirami Yego and Teagan Flanagan each opened up their 2022 season with new personal bests and a top-5 finish, and the men's team finished ninth, as the men's and women's cross country teams competed at the North Alabama Showcase at John Hunt Park Friday morning.
 
Yego and Flanagan put up performances that place in the top-10 all-time at South Alabama for the men's 8k event. Redshirt freshman Tyler Doty and freshmen Xavier Johnson, Amos Pkemoi and Jake Thompson competed in the first 8k race of their collegiate careers, helping the men's team to their top-10 finish.
 
On the women's side, Adele Magaud paced the Jaguars, finishing 20^th with a time of 17:13.69, a new personal best. Abbey Weitenbeck, Clervie Chagot and Emma Tonsberg all set new career highs as well, as the women's team raced to finish 22^nd out of 39 teams.
 
Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia Tech finished 1-2-3 in both the men's and women's competitions. The Crimson Tide scored 74 points on the men's side and 73 points on the women's side. Kentucky's Perri Bockrath finished first among the women, crossing the line in 16:24.54, while Victor Kiprop of Alabama won the men's race in 23:18.30.
 
Head Coach Parker Cowles
On the men's performance
"I thought there was a lot to be happy about today. It's not a secret we have some issues and unforeseen problems with depth that we need to address and work on throughout the season. I thought on the men's side Teagan [Flanagan] and Kirami [Yego] showed me they can run with anybody in the country and they're going to compete at the national level, and do so well and consistently. They've developed a lot since last year, and they were pretty solid last year. They came into this season with a phenomenal base and as we get going I think they are going to continue to get stronger as we put more work under their belts. The rest of our scoring group, it was their first year and this was an eight thousand [meter] debut for them. They need to work on their execution, but I saw a lot of grittiness and toughness today and I think those guys are going to get exponentially better as the season progresses."
 
On the women's performance
"On the ladies' side, we have a lot of returners and they were at least 15 seconds faster than last year. So, I'm happy about that. Now, the depth is an issue with the women's team as well, and we've got some people that we need to get in the rotation and get healthy and get consistent. Then, we can be a very good team at the Sun Belt level and beyond. There's a lot to address, there's a lot to work on, but there's also a lot to be excited about with this group and I'm happy with the first large invite meet for this year."
 
Up Next

• The Jaguars have a week off before their next competition, when they travel to South Bend, Ind. to participate in the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Sept. 30. The race will take place at the Burke Golf Course, where the women will run the 5k and the men will run five miles.

Post-Race Notes

• Yego's performance ranks third all-time for a South Alabama runner in the 8k. He passes Micah Tirop and his time of 23:27 at the Brook's Memphis Twilight Classic in 2006.
• Flanagan moved into the all-time top-10 as well. His time of 23:35 is good for eighth in the Jaguar history books.
• Yego and Flanagan improved on their finishes at this event last season by two and five spots, respectively.
• Yego set a new personal best in the 8k, beating his previous time by 18 seconds.
• Flanagan also set a new personal best by 50 seconds, beating his time of 24:24 set at last year's Live in LOU Classic.
• This was the first collegiate 8k race for Pkemoi, Johnson, Doty and Thompson.
• Magaud, Weitenbeck and Chagot beat their previous personal bests by over 15 seconds.
• Tonsberg improved on her personal best by five seconds.
• All five runners on the women's side improved on their times they set at the Azalea City Classic last week.
• John Hunt Park will host the NCAA South Regional Championships on Nov. 11.

Men's (8K) Team Finishes
1. Alabama (74); 2. Kentucky (94); 3. Georgia Tech (109); 4. Lee (Tenn.) (141); 5. Memphis (188); 6. Auburn (221); 7. Eastern Kentucky (259); 8. Mississippi College (274); 9. South Alabama (277); 10. Georgia (327).
 
South Alabama Men's Individual Finishes
2. Kirami Yego (23:25.64); 4. Teagan Flanagan (23:35.04); 44. Amos Pkemoi (24:31.71); 81. Xavier Johnson (24:56.14); 208. Tyler Doty (26:43.24); 272. Jake Thompson (27:58.24).
 
Women's (5K) Team Finishes
1. Alabama (73); 2. Kentucky (78); 3. Georgia Tech (110); 4. Auburn (125); 5. Kennesaw State (189); 6. Southern Miss (196); 7. Lee (Tenn.) (204); 8. Eastern Kentucky (251); 9. UCF (255); 10. Samford (264).
22. South Alabama (615)
 
South Alabama Women's Individual Finishes
20. Adele Magaud (17:13.69); 133. Abbey Weitenbeck (18:43.47); 150. Clervie Chagot (18:53.34); 171. Emma Tonsberg (19:03.32); 328. Shay Lee (21:55.05).
 
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