Smith 2nd; Seering 3rd in Purdue XC

First-year Eric Smith sprinted his way to second place and junior Tiffany Seering finished third in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference cross-country race at McCormick Park on the Purdue University campus.

In the Men's B race, Smith came out of the woods in third place behind Lindsey Wilson's Taylor Ladd and Jacob Brackett. He clung to the wheel of Brackett, who was in second place, until the final stretch when he dug deep and sped away to claim the number two placing. The path of dry and extremely dusty dirt that served as the starting and finishing stretch was also very loose. Smith lost control in one of the open turns near the end of his first lap. When it came down to the finish, however, he played it safe — riding in the wake of the Lindsey Wilson rider until after that final turn — before turning on the jets down the straightaway.

Seering took to the woods in the three spot and held her ground there throughout her three laps. She came within 10 seconds of eventual second-place finisher Brooke Crum of Lindsey Wilson, but a run-in with a tree in the final lap forced her to settle for third. It was her best placing of the season in the Women's A category.

In the Men's C race, junior Andy Ayers was Ripon's best-placed rider in fourth.

The Red Hawks will return to the Purdue campus tomorrow for the short-track cross country and dual slalom events at Slater Hill.