Tiger cross country teams see bright spots in season-opener

Coming off a 2020 season in which the Cowley College women's cross country team were crowned national champions and the Tiger men's cross country team finished third nationally, the Cowley College women and men's cross country teams opened the 2021 season by competing at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic held Friday night in Hutchinson, KS.

The Tiger men, who competed without its top-two runners, Amos Pkiach and Adrian Diaz-Lopez, finished second behind only Cloud County out of 17 teams at the four-mile meet.

"I thought it was a good meet to blow off a little bit of race rust and debut our freshmen men at a longer distance," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "The super humid conditions were not conducive for running fast this year, but all that does not really matter. When we toe the line we got to be ready to race regardless of conditions."

Cowley was led by sophomore Goran Duijsters' 17th place finish, while Santiago Nunez-Gonzalez and Caleb Liermann placed 18th and 20th, respectively.

"We put a lot of value on effort around here," Rieth said. "I saw a lot of really good efforts. Santiago, Goran, Caleb, Edgar (Reyes), and even Muneer (Suied) had a great debut with an uncharted distance for them. I thought the men competed well, especially without us running full strength."

Garden City's Dennis Mutai won the men's four-mile race with a time of 19:48.7.

The Lady Tigers placed fifth out of 13 teams as Washburn University placed first at the meet. Sophomore Karissa Glover was Cowley's top finisher, placing third with a time of 19:07 in the three-mile race.

"Karissa ran one minute faster than she did last year, despite the unfavorable conditions," Rieth said. "She put in the work over the summer and I can't wait to see how she develops."

Cowley's next closest finisher was Kristen Wilson, who placed 17th with a time of 20:02.8, while Delicia Boothe and Ashley Goforth placed 36th and 43rd, respectively.

"We look like we turned over 70 percent of our women's roster from last year's championship team," Rieth said. "Young, inexperienced and looking for fitness. However, there were bright spots. Freshmen Kristen Wilson, Ashley Goforth, and Delicia Boothe had a good first showing. We will be looking for a solid fifth runner all year. I believe we have a few girls that can step up and do that, but only time will tell who it will be."

Washburn University's Patricia Koma won the women's race with a time of 18:54.4.

The Tiger cross country teams will return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 18 when they take part in the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin, MO.