By Brian Tynes

Sports Writer

The men's and women's cross country teams ran to second and fourth overall finishes in Tech's Cross Country Invitational at Lincoln Parish Park Friday.

Gary Stanley, cross country and track and field coach, said he was pleased with the performance but knows the team can accomplish more.

"I like their attitude, and I think we're going to get better," Stanley said.

Stefan Malmquist led Tech with a second-place individual finish, 22 seconds behind Maya Aden of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

The Tech Invitational was Malmquist's first race of the season, after sitting out the first event held at ULM because he was competing in Europe.

Malmquist received help from four other Bulldogs finishing in the top 10. Kinsey Dinnel, who finished fourth, was the only other Bulldog runner in the top five.

Jessie Petrus, Nathan Davis and Zach Schuler finished seventh, eighth and tenth, respectively.

No Bulldog finished below the top 15 with Sam Karanja, Jeremy Cobb and Morgan Smith finishing 11th, 12th and 15th, respectively.

The Lady Techsters' cross country team finished behind Northwestern, ULM and Louisiana College.

Latonia Wilson was the Lady Techsters' top finisher, placing 10th overall. Tenisha Mays finished in 15th place, followed by Crystlle Church and Doria Appleberry at 18th and 19th. Krystal Cole completed Tech's run with a 21st overall finish.

Stanley said younger runners have not yet developed the workout routines they will need in order to be able to compete.

"Freshmen don't realize what you do in the summer has a big impact on cross country," Stanley said. He also added they will have to install better work habits if they want to continue to compete.

Stanley said both teams have shown significant improvement from the first race, despite competing on a tougher course.

"There was definite improvement in some of the guys," Stanley said.

"Our top four men's runners averaged 13 seconds faster than in the first race, and I am very proud of the women for reaching out and doing something good for us," Stanley said.

Tech posted another second-place finish at the Northwestern State Cross Country Invitational on Oct 4.

The Bulldogs finished second to UL-Lafayette, beating UL-Monroe, McNeese and Grambling State among others in the nine team men's field.

Individually, Malmquist was the top finisher for Tech with a time of 25:34.4 over the 8,000-meter course at Demon Hills Golf Course.

Dinnel had another solid performance, coming in 8th place with a time of 26:44.7.

Schuler finished in 15th place, and Karanja finished in 19th place in the 60 person field.

Tech's Petrus, Cobb and Davis all finished among the top 25 in the event as well.