Members of the Wichita State cross country team competed in two invitationals over the weekend — the Emporia State Invitational and the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Oregon.

Emporia State Invitational

With the majority of the runners in Eugene, the Shockers showcased some of their depth in Emporia. 

Hope Saunders come home victorious in the women’s 5K with a time of 19:45.76. WSU had two other runners finish in the top 25 with Erin Topham finishing 12th and McKenna Paintin finishing 21st. 

Since the Shockers only had five runners for the race and Emma Stramm did not finish, the WSU women didn’t earn a team score.

On the men’s side, Asher Moen posted the best finish for the Shocker in the 8K race, finishing 26th with a time of 30:14.96. WSU had two other runners finish in the top 35, with Josh Klein claiming 31st and Josh Cable finishing 33rd. 

The men’s team finished in fifth place overall, with four different freshmen completing their first 8K race.

Bill Dellinger Invitational

In Eugene, the Shockers competed against a stacked group of ranked teams in route to solid finishes for both the men’s and women’s teams. 

Winny Koskei had the highest finish by any Shocker on the women’s side, taking 13th place with a time of 20:14.5. WSU had five different runners finish in the top 100. Rebekah Topham was the only other Shocker runner who finished in the top 50. 

Overall, the Shockers finished in 10th place out of 13 teams, with BYU coming home victorious on the women’s side of the race. 

On the men’s side, Ben Flowers recorded the highest finish for Wichita State, as he placed 37th but climbed 40 spots throughout the race. The men’s team also had five runners finish in the top 100, as Zack Penrod, Ethan Kossover, Jed Helker, and Adam Moore rounded out the top five finishers for WSU.

The Shocker men finished 11th of 14 teams, with Oregon emerging victorious in their home invitational.

Next up, the Shockers will travel to Fort Hays for the Fort Hays State Invitational on October 12.