Hillcat Women finish Second, Men 14th at NAIA Mid-State Classic
Haley TaylorWINFIELD, Kan.- In
its final tune up prior to the Sooner Athletic Conference meet on Nov. 3rd, the
Rogers State women’s cross country team finished second and the men placed 14th
at the NAIA Mid-State Classic hosted by Southwestern College (Kan.) on
Saturday.
The Hillcat women scored 146 points in a highly competitive
5K meet, with three runners finishing in the top 15. Brenda Felipe and Haley Taylor led the
Hillcat women in sixth and seventh, respectively. Felipe reached the finish
line in 18:39, just three seconds ahead of Taylor. Christi Dougherty was 15th with a time of
19:04, while Maria Apolinar finished 27th with a time of 19:26. Natalie Iwamoto rounded out the top five,
placing 91st with a time of 22:07.
The RSU women finished ahead of No. 18 Doane (Neb.), the
seventh place finisher, along with Baker (Kan.) in 5th and Texas Wesleyan in
6th who are both receiving votes.
No. 11 Oklahoma Baptist earned the team title as the Lady
Bison garnered 74 points with four of their top five runners placing in the top
25. OBU’s Hannah Helker registered the
individual crown running the race in 17:03.
The men’s race was packed with teams ranked in the NAIA
Coaches Top 25 Poll. Four teams in the
top 25 and four teams receiving votes finished in the top 13 at the meet. The RSU men recorded 326 points in the 8K
event. The Hillcats 14th place finish was five points behind Friends University
in 13th. The Falcons are receiving votes in the national poll.
The RSU men saw freshman Garrett Dyson lead the team in 49th
place with a time of 26:48. Chandler
Smith and Oscar Reyes placed 62nd and 63rd, respectively. Smith ran the race in
27:08 and Reyes registered a time of 27:10. Freshman Logan Blackburn ran a personal best on Saturday with a time of
27:35, placing 73rd. Ryan Hayes rounded out the top five in 79th with a time of
27:44.
No. 5 OBU earned the team title with 66 points and two
runners in the top five, including first place finisher Adam Goodwin who
tallied a time of 24:35.
Rogers State will have a week off before it competes in the
SAC tournament on Nov. 3rd at OBU in Shawnee, Okla.
