PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Newberry College cross country teams had strong showings once again at the West Florida Argonaut Invitational in the Florida Panhandle this morning.
The women's team took third place overall out of nine teams while the men's team took fourth place of seven in their race.
"We competed against good competition," Head Coach
Scott Hutchinson said. "I'm pleased with their performance and how they got after it. There's still a lot more there, so it's encouraging that we're taking steps in the right direction for the SAC championships and regional championships coming up."
Kevin Kipkosgei had a wildly impressive day, finishing second overall in a field of 64, running the 8K course in 26:56.30. His effort earned him a spot on the All-Invitational team and is the sixth fastest 8K time in Newberry College history.
He was followed by freshmen
Tyler Shumate and
Drew Benson in 17th and 18th, who had times of 28:58.60 and 29:06.50, respectively.
Wyatt Strickland and
Jonah Wendland rounded out the scoring for the Wolves as they finished with a team score of 86, just five points out of third place.
"Extremely proud of how our team performed today!" Director of Track and Field/XC
Jimmy Stephens said. "Today's performances are the best we've seen since coming to Newberry three years ago. Coach Hutchinson is doing an amazing job with this young team."
On the women's side,
Alaya Lindquist,
Grace Jellow and
Ahja Amos finished 7th-9th to give the Wolves a trio of top-10 finishers on the 5K layout. Lindquist ran it in 21:45.30, Jellow in 21:56.10 and Amos in 22:11.30.
Their impressive runs also earned them a place on the All-Invitational team.
"Proud of Kevin, Alaya, Grace and Ahja's performances, and happy for them for being named to the All-Invitational team," Coach Hutchinson said.
Sage Bowen and
Haley Culver, a pair of freshmen, finished in 20th and 24th to give Newberry a score of 60.
"They are all still training hard and keeping their eye on the prize, which is our conference championship in October," Coach Stephens concluded.
The Wolves return to action two weeks from today (Oct. 6) with the Newberry XC Invite on The Farm.
