KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Aaron Isbell and Maddie Wheatcroft hung with the front pack and led the Mocs in a dual meet against Tennessee at the Cherokee Farms Cross Country Course, Friday morning.
 
"Both teams have been training hard through the week and lined up with a more than average week of mileage in their legs," Mocs head coach Andy Meyer said. "We had specific paces we wanted the kids to run for the first couple miles.
 
"The guys went off first and ran very strong. The pace was pretty modest for the first 3 miles then racing began."
 
Isbell finished third in the men's race with a time of 20:39.61, just behind Tennessee's Eli Nahom (20:38.04) and Jacob Lewis (20:38.07).
 
Jonathan Boyd was the second Chattanooga runner across the line, placing 11^th overall with a time of 21:26.72 on the four-mile course. He was followed by Jasper Wilson and Ryan Phillips.
 
"Aaron did great and hung with the leaders to finish third overall," Meyer said. "Jonathan ran his usual paced race and worked his way into the Top 10 with Jasper right behind him. Ryan, then freshman Caleb Jarrett rounded out our scoring five.
 
"It was a pretty good day. We need to tighten up our 1-5 split and work harder on our race pacing."
 
In the women's three-mile race, Wheatcroft finished fifth overall with a time of 18:34.24, just 0.06 seconds out of fourth and 0.41 seconds off Tennessee's top finisher Andie-Marie Jones with a time of 18:33.83.
 
Emma Russum was the second Chattanooga runner to finish, placing ninth with a time of 18:42.64 while freshman Leah Boyd was 10^th overall with a time of 18:45.61.
 
"The girls were not to be out done," Meyer said. "They kept four in the lead group throughout the race and with 800 to go freshman Maddie Wheatcroft made a very strong move to grab the race lead. She faded a little bit in the final 200 and finished with an impressive result. Emma and another freshman Leah Boyd were right behind her.
 
"Ashtyn Hagood showed she's returning to form after a rough spring in fourth for us and Faith Brown rounded out our scoring. Three other freshman girls had impressive performances Andrea Ellis, Michaela Dabney and Lexi Foley all raced well.
 
"Like the guys, the girls need to tighten up the 1-5 split and a couple of ladies need to improve their race positioning."
 
Tennessee won both dual meets beating the men 18-45 and the women 16-45. Chattanooga will head to Huntsville, Ala., on Friday, September 16 in a preview of the NCAA South Region course.
 
RESULTS

Men	4-Mile
	Tennessee	18 pts
	Chattanooga	45 pts
3	Aaron Isbell	20:39.61
11	Jonathan Boyd	21:26.72
12	Jasper Wilson	21:30.80
13	Ryan Philips	21:54.91
14	Caleb Jarrett	22:08.45
15	Eamonn O'Bryant	22:20.05
16	Erik Martinez	22:21.60
17	Kaigen Mulkey	22:36.85
18	Eric Mitchell	22:56.93
19	Lane Hollis	23:06.14
20	Brennan Thomas	23:19.50

 

Women	3-Mile
	Tennessee	16
	Chattanooga	45
5	Maddie Wheatcroft	18:34.24
9	Emma Russum	18:42.64
10	Leah Boyd	18:45.61
13	Ashtyn Hagood	19:06.74
15	Andrea Ellis	19:30.46
16	Lexi Foley	19:58.51
18	Michaela Dabney	20:02.41
19	Julianna McReynolds	20:51.21
20	Allie Potter	20:55.83
21	Grace Adams	22:21.11

 
NOTES
- The men ran three newcomers … Caleb Jarrett was the top freshman finisher for Chattanooga.
- The women ran three newcomers … Maddie Wheatcroft was the top freshman finisher for the Mocs.
 
QUOTABLES FROM ANDY MEYER
"We want to thank UT CC coaches and staff for putting on a great meet. We also want to thank UT System President Randy Boyd for graciously coming over at the start and speaking to the kids and his words of encouragement."
 
"Both teams have been training hard through the week and lined up with a more than average week of mileage in their legs. We had specific paces we wanted the kids to run for the first couple miles."
 
"The guys went off first and ran very strong. The pace was pretty modest for the first 3 miles then racing began. Aaron did great and hung with the leaders to finish 3rd overall. Jonathan ran his usual paced race and worked his way into the top 10 with Jasper right behind him. Ryan then freshman Caleb Jarrett rounded out our scoring 5. It was a pretty good day. We need to tighten up our 1-5 split and work harder on our race pacing."
 
"Girls were not to be out done. They kept 4 ladies in the lead group throughout the race and with 800 to go freshman Maddie Wheatcroft made a very strong move to grab the race lead. She faded a little bit in the final 200 and finished with a very impressive result. Emma and another freshman Leah Boyd were right behind her. Ashtyn showed she's returning to form after a rough spring in fourth for us and Faith Brown rounded out our scoring. Three other freshman girls had impressive performances Andrea Ellis, Michaela Dabney and Lexi Foley all raced well."
 
"Like the guys, the girls need to tighten up the 1-5 split and a couple of ladies need to improve their race positioning."
 
Overall we did well for where we are at in our training cycle. Kids were certainly challenged by two very very good teams. They competed hard and raced well.