In his first full season with the program, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country coach Andy Meyer has his teams in a good spot.
Ahead of his own schedule.
The UTC teams will run in their third meet of the fall semester this weekend, participating in the Greater Louisville Classic. With the men's team having only one senior and the women having none, Meyer is trying to build the young Mocs to running their best toward the end of the season, and after the last meet at the Falcon Classic in Montevello, Ala., he feels they are on that path.
"Both teams ran a very controlled and conservative first half of the race again," Meyer said. "We will begin to let them race a bit more aggressively now as we get into the heart of our schedule. Both teams, right now, are ahead of my expectations for this point of the season."
Two juniors, John Payne and former Heritage High School and Dalton State College standout Emily Poole, have led their respective squads. Payne was third in the Falcon Classic meet, while Poole was fourth in her race. Another Heritage product, Ryan Gebelein, was the UTC men's second finisher.
The Louisville field typically isi a strong one. The women's winner last year, Michigan's Erin Finn, was a three-time All-American and finished second in the 2016 NCAA meet, while Louisville's Edwin Kibichiy was eighth in the NCAA men's meet and a two-time All-American.
Men's golfers 10th
The UTC men's golf team finished 10th Tuesday at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala. The Mocs totaled 883 for 54 holes, five shots behind ninth-place Memphis. Wake Forest won by 13 shots at 849.
UTC's Luke Long closed with a 1-under-par 71 and tied for 16th individually with a 1-over 217. Former Chattanooga Christian standout Lake Johnson shot 221 for 29th place, while Etienne Brault and Will Porter had 225s and Phillip Hickam and Connor Nolan also made the top 50 with 226s.
The Mocs made 37 birdies during the tournament, setting a season high.
Soccer, volleyball have road matches
The soccer team's month of road matches is almost over.
The Mocs end a six-game string of away games Friday in a Southern Conference game at Samford. Following a 1-1 weekend that included a late-goal victory over Western Carolina, UTC has a 3-6-2 record that has included some late losses.
The volleyball team suffered a five-set loss to Western Carolina last Friday but rebounded with a 3-0 win over UNC Greensboro. The Mocs will be in South Carolina this weekend for matches at The Citadel and Furman.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.