LUBBOCK, Texas - For the second straight week,
Madelyn Merrell raced right past her old personal best in the 5K, finishing second at the NCAA DII Preview on Friday, Oct. 7.
Merrell finished second place individually for the second meet in a row with a time of 18:47.00, beating her old personal best mark set on Sept. 23 this year at the NMJC Invitational of 19:13.1 by 26 seconds. The Idalou, Texas native has finished inside the top-20 in six of her last nine career races, including back-to-back second place finishes. Merrell also finished 18th in the 6K earlier this season at the Texas Tech Invitational.
As a team, the Lady Chaps finished second for the second meet in a row with a total time of 1:41:07.70. That mark is just over a minute faster as a squad than their last race in Hobbs, N.M. where LCU finished with a total time of 1:42:35. Lubbock Christian also finished second at the 2021 DII Preview, and also had four runners finish inside the top-10.
Sky Sena picked up her second straight top-10 finish, placing seventh with a time of 19:52.70. That mark beats her old personal best also set at the DII Preview last season of 20:04.6 by almost 12 seconds.
Hailey Lowery reset her personal best in the 5K for the second straight meet, finishing ninth with a time of 20:29.30. Lowery beat out her time set in Hobbs on Sept. 23 of 20:48.4 by roughly 19 seconds. Lowery has reset her 5K personal best in three straight meets.
Chloe Trull rounds out the top-10 finishes for the Chaps, finishing 10th with a time of 20:42.20. Trull has picked up three straight top-10 finishes in the 5K dating back to the 2021 DII Preview.
Adrianna Langat absolutely obliterated her old personal best in the 5K, finishing 13th with a time of 21:16.50. That mark beats Langat's old personal best by over 1:07, and is her first career top-15 finish in the 5K.
Amy Tew finished right behind Langat at 14th, also setting a personal best with a time of 21:33.80. That time beats her mark set at the NMJC Invitational by almost 44 seconds.
Sydnei Orozco placed 15th with a time of 21:38.50, while
Sheyla Vilca finished behind her at 16th with a new personal best time of 21:51.00. Vilca's time beats her old personal best set at last year's DII Preview by almost 36 seconds.
Kylie Knapp also streaked right past her old personal best mark in the 5K, finishing 18th with a time of 22:51.90, rolling past her old mark of 26:06.3 set at the NMJC Invitational by 3:15.
Sydney Jones competed in the 5K for the first time in her career as a Lady Chap, finishing 19th with a time of 22:53.70.
Damaris Chewon on New Mexico Junior College won the individual championship with a time of 18:07.20. The Thunderbirds also won the team title with a time of 1:36:08.60 with 19 points.
The Lady Chaps will wrap up the regular season in Clovis, N.M. at the Greyhound Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15. Fans can find more information on the race and the Lady Chaps at lcuchaps.com.
