September 15, 2009

Young runners earn opportunity to compete at Friends Invite

Wanting to give some of the team’s freshmen a chance to compete, Cowley College men’s cross country head coach Vince DeGrado had six freshmen represent the No. 2-ranked Tigers at the Friends University Invite held Friday in Goddard.

Cowley ended up placing fifth out of 12 teams, while Southwestern College nipped Fort Hays State University by three points for the team title.
Cianin Kutil, the lone sophomore for the Tigers to run on Friday, placed 13th in the five-mile race with a time of 27:33. Cowley was led by freshman Josh Gracia from West Palm Beach, FL. Gracia placed fifth at the meet with a time of 26:05.

“This was a good experience for him,” DeGrado said. “He ran a heck of a time for his first 8K.”
Fellow freshman Tyson Christensen also ran well as he placed 25th with a time of 28:07.

“This showed the freshman that they are the future of this program,” DeGrado said. “It also showed them there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Friends University’s Matt Ditzler (25:52.48) won the race by less than two tenths of a second as he finished just ahead of Southwestern College’s Andrew Topham (25:52.65).

Cowley will now gear up for the Missouri Southern Stampede, which will be held Saturday at 9:45 a.m. in Joplin, MO. There is expected to be more than 300 runners taking part in the meet.

“This will be a big test for us,” DeGrado said.

Team scores: (1) Southwestern, 45; (2) Fort Hays State, 48; (3) Newman, 107; (4) Friends, 111; (5) Cowley, 122; (6) Butler, 125; (7) Coffeyville, 216; (8) Hutchinson, 217; (9) Sterling, 251; (10) Oklahoma Wesleyan, 286; (11) Bethel, 301; (12) Allen County, 364.

Cowley results: (5) Josh Gracia, 26:05; (13) Cianin Kutil, 27:33; (25) Tyson Christensen, 28:05; (47) Thomas Kjerengtroen, 29:07; (63) Kyle Swinicki, 29:35.73; (73) Peter Onelio, 30:16; (81) Zach Reynolds, 30:42.