Topoly, Lawler lead MU Men, Women at Disney

Cross Country | 10/12/2019 9:29:00 PM

ORLANDO Andrew Topoly and Makayla Lawler led their respective Methodist men's and women's cross country teams Saturday at the Disney Cross Country Classic, as the Monarch women placed 12th and the men 4th in the meet standings.

Youngstown State University ran away with both the five-kilometer women's and eight-kilometer men's races, sweeping the first five scoring places in each event.

Topoly's 14th-place time of 27 minutes, 29.1 seconds edged out teammate Cameron Adair, who was 15th, by six seconds.

Lawler cracked the top 20 in the women's 5K with an 18th-place time of 19:30.8.

JUST THE FACTS
Event: Disney Cross Country Classic
Courses: 8K (M) and 5K (W) at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex; Orlando, Fla.
Men's 8K individual winner: Chris Butler, Youngstown State (25:22.1)
Men's 8K team winner: Youngstown State (15 points)
Women's 5K individual winner: Morgan Cole, Youngstown State (18:15.2)
Women's 5K team winner: Youngstown State (15 pts.)

METHODIST RACE NOTES

In a crowded field of 123 runners in the men's event, Topoly and Adair were just six seconds apart in teaming up for their top-20 finishes.
The other three scoring runners for the Monarchs -- Connor Ayers (25th; 28:10.6), Jonathan Wertz (34th; 28:28.1) and Stephen Dukes (51st; 29:17.9) -- crossed the finish line only 67 seconds apart.
Though only five runners score, Youngstown's sweep at the front of the pack was a plus-one, as the Penguins actually swept the first six places.
Lawler and newcomer Courtney Drumm have been a 1-2 punch for the Methodist women. But on Saturday Drumm wasn't able to hold step with Lawler, finishing 40th with a time of 20:41.5.
Similar to the Methodist men's Nos. 3 through 5 scorers, the women's trio of Olivia Mague (89th; 23:13.6), Lemlem Gebremichele (99th; 24:17.6) and Ally Mattera (24:17.7) also stayed within approximately one minute of each other, ending their day just 64 seconds apart from Mague to Mattera.
The Youngstown women weren't able to duplicate the 1 through 6 sweep of the Penguins men, settling for a 1st through 5th sweep to gap runner-up Cleveland State by 56 points.