Cowley cross country teams open season with a bang
Opening its seasons at the Allen
County Invitational on Friday, the Cowley College men and women’s
cross country teams had some strong individual performances.
Cowley’s Ashley Cronin (12:46) was the women’s individual
champion and Stanly Mugo (15:20) defended his individual championship
from a year ago by winning the men’s race.
“Wonderful performances by Ashley and Stanley,” Cowley head coach
Mark Phillips said. “That’s as good as I have seen those
two run.”
The Lady Tigers competed without the services of returning All-Americans
Irene Kosgei and Jeniffer Cherono and the men’s team ran with out
13 time NJCAA All-American Daniel Maina as both Tiger cross country teams
finished second behind Butler Community College at the meet.
“We were really pleased with how the kids ran,” Phillips
said. “I constantly tell the kids nobody remembers what you do in August.
I was very encouraged by the results.”
Freshman John Purvis was the top finishing American runner at the meet
as he placed sixth in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:12. Brett
Koehn (16:23) and Mauricio Morales (16:25) placed eighth and 10th, respectively.
While, Gilbert Manzanares (16:37) placed 11th.
“Those guys are all running well,” Phillips said. “I am real
pleased with how our guys ran.”
After Cronin, sophomore Christy Buller was the Lady Tigers’ next
highest finisher as she placed 12th with a time of 13:54 in the two-mile
race.
“Christy is running very well,” Phillips said.
Next up for the Tiger cross country teams will be the Friends University
Invite at Lake Afton on September 7. Both Tiger squads will run the traditional
college distances of 3.1 miles and 5 miles and hope to be back at full
strength with a much bigger meet in store. Both races should have about
15 teams with the Tigers being the defending champions with both squads.
“The ones who did not run at Allen County we want to get ready to run,” Phillips
said. “Friends is a tough course, this will be our first test.”
Cowley women’s results: (1) Ashley Cronin, 12:46; (12) Christy
Buller, 13:54 (14) Jamie Sherwood, 14:21; (15) Janee’ Gabbard,
14:28; (17) Bethany Schmidt, 14:38; (22) Hannah Burr, 15:33; (23) Kari
Rinehart, 15:44.
Women’s team scores: (1) Butler, 20; (2) Cowley, 39; (3) Allen,
60; (4) Coffeyville, no score; (5) Highland, no score.
Cowley men’s results: (1) Stanley Mugo, 15:20; (6) John Purvis,
16:12; (8) Brett Koehn, 16:23; (10) Mauricio Morales, 16:25; (11) Gilbert
Manzanares, 16:37; (14) Justin Cacaro, 16:59; (20) Rolando Vasquez, 17:16;
(24) Dakota Price, 17:32; (27) Tristan Wall, 17:52.
Men’s team scores: (1) Butler, 26; (2) Cowley, 36; (3) Allen,
65; (4) Coffeyville, 87; (5) Highland, 111
(6) Neosho, no score.
