McPHERSON – Stephanie Martinez (JR/Horizon City, Texas) and Jacob Lovell (SR/Junction City, Kan.) both finished in third place helping the Coyotes place third for the women, and fourth for the men in the Carol Swenson Cross Country Invitational, hosted by McPherson College on Saturday at Bulldog Park.
Martinez was the only runner not from Friends in the Top-5 of the women's race, as she completed the 5K course in 20:55.64, just three seconds out of second place.
Christina Tripp (FR/Dayton, Idaho) was 14th in the race for the Coyotes in 22:41.75 and fellow freshman Daniella Gaona (FR/Clifton, Texas) was 17th in the race in 22:50.67. Junior Tabetha Deines (JR/Salina, Kan.) finished 21st in 23:07.64, Cindy Sheaffer (SO/Oberlin, Kan.) was 32nd in 24:35.49, Regan Rhodes (SO/Mullinville, Kan.) was 44th in 28:45.01, and Makayla Johnson (FR/Salina, Kan.) was 48th in 33:49.09.
The Coyotes were third in the team standings with 65 points, only two behind Tabor with 63. Friends was the run-away winner of the meet with 19 points. Bethel was fourth with 103 points and Bethany was fifth with 121 points to round out the team scoring.
Lovell covered the 5K course in 17:09.25 to finish third in the men's race.
Austin Hess (FR/Garden City, Kan.) finished 19th in his first collegiate race, in 18:38.79 to lead the group of freshmen running for the Coyotes. Daniel York (FR/Linn, Kan.) was 27th in 19:20.70, Shane Calvin (FR/Lakin, Kan.) was 29th in 19:51.39, Trey Stramel (FR/Colby, Kan.) was 44th in 20:19.22, Michael Vongphakdy (FR/Salina, Kan.) was 46th in 20:31.33, and Randall Thornton (FR/Salina, Kan.) was 55th in 22:05.77.
The Coyotes were fourth in the team standings with 109 points. Friends won the meet with 30 points, Tabor was second with 69, Ottawa was third with 94, Bethel was fifth with 134, McPherson was sixth with 136 and Bethany was seventh with 144.
Wesleyan will host its first cross country meet since the 2010 KCAC Championships when the Coyotes host the Coyote Invitational on Friday night at Great Life Salina. Due to COVID-19 concerns, there will be no fans at the meet.
--kwucoyotes.com--