Tiger men fare well in return to action

Competing for the first time in more than a month, the Cowley College men's cross country team shook off the rust to finish second by only two points to meet champion St. Mary University at the Bethel Invite held Saturday in Newton, KS.

"It looked like we had a lot of race rust," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "It is hard to simulate going all out like an actual race in practice. I expect the guys to run a little faster in better conditions."

Tiger freshman Amos Pkiach made his season debut and finished as the runner-up in the 5-mile race. Pkiach's time of 24:56.92 was second to only meet champion Nathan Wickoren who ran independently for Kansas City Smoke.

"Amos did exactly what we expected and ran really well," Rieth said.

Cowley's Xoel Rodriguez-Abad also ran well and placed ninth with a time of 26:17.31.

Other Tiger runners at the meet were Joel Rodriguez (27:01.83, 18^th place), Samuel Giles (27:30.26, 25^th), Javyn Contreras (27:44.20), Edwin Olvera (27:52.71), Caleb Liermann (27:53.59), Dawson Crawley (28:16.99), Aidan Wells (28:21.80), Corbin Liermann (28:45.40), Edgar Reyes (28:49.47), Richard Whatley Jr. (29:02.53), Jimmy Howey (31:01.80), and Nathaniel Hubbard (31:51.96).

The Tiger cross country team will now prepare for the Conference/Region Championships Wednesday, October 28 in El Dorado, KS.

"Our goal for is to win the conference and region titles," Rieth said. "It will be a battle. This past meet was a good building block for the teams, but we will need everyone to step up."

Team standings:

MEN

(1) St. Mary, 50; (2) Cowley, 52; (3) Newman, 53; (4) Fort Scott, 129; (5) Bethel, 132; (6) MCC-Longview, 145; (7) McPherson, 167; (8) Bethany, 193.