Tiger men place second, Lady Tigers seventh at Missouri Southern Stampede

With 163 men and 113 women participating in the Missouri Southern Stampede, the Cowley College men's cross country team placed second out of 16 teams, and the Lady Tigers placed seventh Saturday in Joplin, MO.

The Tiger men, which finished second to only Oklahoma City University, were led by sophomore Santiago Nunez, placing ninth in the five-mile race with a time of 5:15.4. Fellow sophomore Goran Duijsters ran a 45-second personal best time of 5:17.9 and placed 11^th. While Cowley freshman Randy Rojas-Mendez (5:18.4, 13^th place), Joel Rodriguez (5:19.3, 18^th place), and Aidan Wells (5:19.9, 19^th place) each finished in the top-20.

"We had our top-four runners finish among the top-35 times in Cowley history," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "I am excited about our pack time of runners one through five."

Other Tiger men's runners at the meet were Edgar Reyes (5:28.2, 26^th place), Mason Bickle (5:40.7, 58^th place), Jacob Coronado (5:42.3, 62^nd place), Dylan Roe (5:47.5, 72^nd place), Basheer Suied (5:51.3, 80^th place), Elio Rivera (6:02.1, 105^th place), and Jakub Barcik (6:03.3, 108^th place).

Reyes ran a 40-second personal best, while Aidan Wells bested his previous personal best time by 20 seconds.

"I am really pleased with how we ran this early in the season," Rieth said.

Butler Community College freshman Rodger Rotich won the men's race with a time of 4:47.9.

The Butler women also had the top female runner on Saturday as Khloi Bird won the 3.1-mile race with a time of 5:57.5. Tabor Community College placed first in the team standings on the women's side.

Cowley held out its No. 1 and No. 3 women's runners (Yazmin Reyes and Karissa Glover) and did not take a full squad to compete at the Missouri Southern Stampede. Still, the Lady Tiger runners managed some good performances.

Freshman Paula Pi-Rodriguez was Cowley's top finisher, placing 24^th with a time of 20:10.1. Sophomore Delicia Boothe (20:16.9) was just behind in 27^th place, as was Abigail Pinnock (6:33.6) in 33^rd place.

"Delicia and Abigail ran really well," Rieth said.

Freshman Dhennifer Vaz (6:39.9, 40^th place) and Layla Ingalls (21:11.9, 50^th place) rounded out Lady Tiger runners at the meet.

"Layla had a big-time improvement from her race last year at Missouri Southern," Rieth said. "The girls have a lot of potential; we just need to get everyone healthy and continue to move up our pack of runners."

Cowley will now have time to prepare for the University of Missouri Gans Creek Classic, which will be held at 11:15 a.m. Friday, September 30, in Columbia, MO.

"We just need to continue focusing on trying to be the best version of ourselves," Rieth said.

Men's team scores: (1) Oklahoma City, 37; (2) Cowley, 70; (3) Butler, 123; (4) John Brown, 135; (5) Allen, 144; (6) Northwest Arkansas, 167; (7) Tabor, 181; (8) Baker, 186; (9) College of the Ozarks, 210; (10) McPherson, 215; (11) Mid-America Nazarene, 308; (12) Neosho County, 345; (13) State Fair, 364; (14) Crowder, 402; (15) Coffeyville, 455; (16) Ozark Christian College, 473.

Women's team scores: (1) Tabor, 58; (2) Oklahoma City, 72; (3) College of the Ozarks, 108; (4) Baker, 117; (5) Butler, 119; (6) Mid-America Nazarene, 121; (7) Cowley, 167; (8) John Brown, 181; (9) McPherson, 243; (10) Crowder, 244; (11) Neosho County, 278; (12) State Fair, 323; (13) Northwest Arkansas, 346.