Wichita State cross country runners finished in the middle of the American Athletic Conference Championship standings, with only senior runner Sarah Bertry ending up in the top-15 individually.
The women’s runners placed sixth out of 13 teams while the men placed fourth out of 12 on Friday afternoon at L.W. Clapp Park.
“I projected us basically right where we finished,” head coach Kirk Hunter said. “I hate being right about that, but this conference is so tough that we could literally go completely the other direction. I mean, the fact that the girls got sixth, they could have been ninth or tenth. The fact that the guys got fourth, they could have been seventh or eighth.”
Bertry finished in 14th place in the women’s 6K with a time of 21:29.8. Junior runner Yared Kidane finished in 21st place in the men’s 8K with a time of 25:00.5.
“It was tough the whole race, it was very tight, but I was able to hang in there,” Bertry said. “I was glad that there were a lot of our teammates outside, being encouraged by them.”
The WSU men team finished with 135 points while the women finished with 166 points. Tulane University won the men’s team event on a tiebreaker over the University of Tulsa with 33 points, while Tulsa won on the women’s side with 63 points.
Men’s Race
Kidane kept pace at the beginning of the men’s 8K, briefly fighting for first with the Tulane runners, but ran out of gas rounding the second turn.
“Today was hard; the hardest of my life,” Kidane said. “We thought it was easy for us, but it was hard. The last 4K, I was dead. I was tired. My legs (were) tight. I (couldn’t) move them.”
Teammate and friend, junior Adrian Diaz-Lopez, finished just behind in 23rd place with a time of 25:04.6.
“I have to say, our top six men competed at a really, really tough level today,” Hunter said. “I mean, they were battling in there.”
The remaining six runners were junior Cesar Ramirez, sophomore Jonah Allison, freshman Colin Graham and sophomore Aidan Reyna. Ramirez placed 27th, setting a time of 25:10.0 with Allison behind him in 28th setting a time of 25:12.5.
Graham finished in 36th place with a 25:22.7 time and Reyna finished in 25:27.3, taking 39th place.
Women’s Race
A last-minute, final charge from Bertry landed her 14th place at the finish line.
“I thought it would be easier because of all the people around, but it was kind of tough,” Bertry said. “The competition was really there, but having all the people around cheering all the time, it was great.”
Senior Miranda Dick placed 27th, setting a time of 22:04.0. The next runner to finish was freshman Faith Ekart at 40th, in 22:35.6.
“I was probably most impressed with Sarah Bertry on her finish, the way she finished the race,” Hunter said. “(And) the toughness of Miranda and Faith in the women’s race.”
The next four women’s runners for Wichita State finished between 55th and 71st place.
“I almost think we might have missed our peak just a little bit today,” Hunter said. “That might have been because the race got moved up a day and all these things.”
The cross country team will run at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Peoria, Illinois, on Friday, Nov. 15. The women’s 6K will start at 11 a.m. and the men’s 10K will start at noon.
