McCaul, Wyles sweep OVC Male and Female Freshmen of the Year honors
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the first time in school history, the Tennessee Tech cross country teams claimed both the Ohio Valley Conference's Male and Female Freshmen of the Year honors in the same season, as announced by the league Friday afternoon.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the first time in school history, the Tennessee Tech cross country teams claimed both the Ohio Valley Conference's Male and Female Freshmen of the Year honors in the same season, as announced by the league Friday afternoon.
Rookie Miceal McCaul became just the second Golden Eagle ever to earn the Male Freshman of the Year honor, joining Gilbert Boit (2016) on the exclusive list. Ruby Wyles captured the Female Freshman of the Year accolade, only the third Tech runner to do so after Purity Sanga in 2017 and Janet Kwambai in 2018.
A native of Newry, Northern Ireland, McCaul led the purple and gold at the Golden Eagle Invitational on Oct. 15, placing third overall in the field while delivering a time of 25:30.2 in the 8K race. He was the team's runner-up in each of the first three meets of the season, earning a top-25 finish at the Covered Bridge Open on Sept. 3.
At the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic on Oct. 2, McCaul turned in his lifetime best showing of 24:48.2. The run marked the 22nd fastest time in an 8K event in program history.
Wyles kicked off her collegiate career in style, pacing the Golden Eagles in each of the first two events of the season. At the Covered Bridge Open on Sept. 3, the Surrey, England native finished 11th overall with a career-best time of 17:44.90, the 11th fastest time in the 5K in school history.
She followed it up by leading Tech at the Commodore Classic on Sept. 17, placing 35th in the event with a time of 18:15.5. Wyles collected her top finish of the season by ranking seventh overall at the Golden Eagle Invitational to help Tech capture the team title.
The OVC Championships are set to be held on Saturday, Oct. 30 in Nashville at Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course at Percy Warner Park. The men's race will commence at 9:00 a.m. CT while the women's will follow at approximately 10:00 a.m.
Photos by Jim Dillon & Thomas Corhern
