Tiger men’s cross country team wins Ollie Isom Invite
Placing four runners in the top eight at the Ollie Isom Invite held Friday in El Dorado, the No. 4-ranked Cowley College men's cross country team ran past the competition and placed first out of seven schools. The No. 4-ranked Lady Tigers did not run a full squad but still managed some solid performances.
Butler Community College's Rodger Rotich (23:57:32) finished nearly a minute better than the next runner as he easily placed first in the five-mile race. Cowley had three runners, Aidan Wells (26:21.88), Goran Duijsters (26:42.04), and Joel Rodriguez (26"47.77) finish fourth through sixth, while Santiago Nunez (27:04.99) was just behind in eighth place.
Cowley had another pack of runners, Basheer Suied (27:40.29), Aaron Medrano (27:41.24), and Mason Bickle (27:42.30) finish in the 12 through 14 spots, while Dylan Roe (29:04.10) rounded out Tiger runners in 25th place.
Cowley finished 18 points better than second-place Butler.
"The goal today was to go compete. We had several guys set personal bests on a tough course," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "Aidan ran out of his mind."
Paula Pi-Rodriguez was the Lady Tigers' top finisher, placing 16th with a time of 21:07.92 in the 3.1-mile race. Andrea Garcia-Gonzalez (21:14.92) and Abigail Pinnock (21:15.56) were just behind Pi-Rodriguez in 18th and 19th place.
"Even though the times might not show it, I thought Paula and Andrea ran really tough," Rieth said.
Delicia Boothe (21:47.82) and Layla Ingalls (23:11.80) also ran well and placed 25th and 38th, respectively.
"We just wanted the ladies to get out and compete," Rieth said.
Cloud County was the top team finisher on the women's side and had the top individual runner as Lucy Ndungu won the race with a time of 19:08.53.
The Cowley College cross country teams will travel just down the road to participate in the Mid-States Classic held Saturday at 8 a.m. in Winfield, KS. The Tigers will use this as a tune-up for the region meet that will take place Friday, October 28, in Hutchinson.
Team scores:
MEN
(1) Cowley, 28: (2) Butler, 46; (3) Hutchinson, 86; (4) Cloud County, 115; (5) Dodge City, 121; (6) Pratt, 136; (7) Hesston, 189.
WOMEN
(1) Cloud County, 37; (2) Hutchinson, 38; (3) Dodge City, 60; (4) Butler, 99; (5) Cowley, 105.