The US Universities 2020 (delayed because of Covid 19) National Cross-country Championships were held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA today. 251 runners, with teams from 31 colleges across the states, went to the start line. Included in that number were two KCH athletes, Peter Lynch and Shay McEvoy, both members of the Tulsa College team. Conditions were good with dry ground, beaming sun, plenty of turns, hills and a very strong wind. Shay on his first trip to the nationals acquitted himself and his team well. Finishing 157th he left almost one hundred, and some very experienced, runners behind him. Peter was in determined and confident mood, hoping for a good run for himself and for his team. And he wasn’t disappointed as he had a fantastic race ending up finishing strongly in 12th position in 30.17.7 – the second scorer for Tulsa. Peter’s experience on the cross-country scene stood him in good stead. Running the first kilometer in 2.40.3 he was then in 98th place and he pushed on from there. He was relentless in pursuing the runners ahead of him and by the 5K mark his position was 43rd. With 2K to go his place was 25th which he lowered to 20th as he attacked the final kilometer. With the uphill finish and facing into the strong breeze he clocked one of his fastest splits – 3.00.8 – passing another eight athletes in the process to claim 12th place – a massive achievement and reward for years of training.
