INDIVIDUAL RESULTS | TEAM RESULTS

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama. – The Delta State University cross country team opened the 2014 season Saturday morning with a ninth place team finish at the Fleet Feet Invitational (5K) in Huntsville, Ala. The University of Montevallo took first place with the hosts the University of Alabama in Huntsville coming in fifth.
 
The Lady Statesmen finished in ninth, just one team point behind fellow Gulf South Conference member Mississippi College. In a very tightly contested race, only 12 points separated third through fifth place and eight points was the difference between seventh and ninth place.
 
Leading the way for Delta State was junior Mary Katherine Chunn and senior Tressa Lamb. Both ladies finished in the top 35 in the race. Chunn posted a time of 20:24 and finished 31st overall. Lamb was eight seconds behind her in 35th with a time of 20:32.
 
Freshman Maria Arzate, in her first race for DSU, came in 42nd with a time of 20:50. Fellow freshman Tori McDonald posted a time of 21:24 and came in 54th. 
 
Sophomores Hannah Register and Anna Poteet finished 62nd and 66th respectively, for the Lady Statesmen. Register ran a 5K time of 21:51 and Poteet ran the race in 21:59.
 
Three Lady Statesmen posted personal best times for a 5K race. Mary Katherine Chunn ran 16 seconds faster on Saturday than her previous best. Maria Azate's time was a full minute faster than her best time in high school. Finally, Tori McDonald ran 30 seconds quicker than her previous best time in high school.
 
Head Coach Doug Pinkerton was pleased with the result for the first race of the season. "Glad to have three girls finish with personal bests today," he said. "Good start to the year, to have three finish in the 20 minute mark. Today's race was very fast and with seven other Gulf South Conference teams racing, we got to see a lot of good competition."
 
The Lady Statesmen return home next weekend to host the Delta State University XC Invitational 5K with the start of the race slated for 8:30 a.m.