ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
The Tabor College cross-country women placed second and the men fourth at their own Tabor Invitational on Cottonwood Point at Marion Reservoir on Saturday.
The women scored 49 points, only one point behind Hutchinson Community College with 48.
Heidi Schmidt and Bridgette Stevens set the pace, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, to earn individual medals.
Schmidt covered the 3.1-mile course in 20:37 while Stevens finished in 20:46.
Also running for Bluejays were Tiffany Stevens (19th, 21:38), Shelby Miller (20th, 21:39), Amber Wiens (21st, 21:42), Ashley Schmidt (23rd, 21:51) and Rebekah Lockhart (38th, 23:48).
“The women raced well today,” coach Karol Hunt said. “The top two ran in the 20s and runners three through six all ran in the 21s, which shows the strength of this team and the progress we’re making.
“It’s tough to lose by one point, but I’m pleased with how this young group is developing,” she added. “It’s good to see the runners pushing each other and we have no predictable order of finish-the benefit is that it keeps us mentally sharp.”
For the men, Kyle Larson earned an individual medal by placing 14th with a time of 30:22 in the 8-kilometer race. Kevin Larson placed 16th in 30:40.
Also competing for Tabor were Jeff Anenson (21st, 31:01), Matt Lynam (23rd, 31:12), Richard Galli (35th, 32:54), Brandon Voth (40th, 3:26), Zac Remboldt (49th, 36:16) and Will Higerd (50th, 36:17).
“The goal of the top four was to break the 30-minute barrier and they were disappointed that it didn’t happen,” Hunt said. “However, they raced hard.
“Brandon set a personal record time and is progressing well,” Hunt added. “It is taking Richard and Zac a little longer to transition to the intensity of college running, but both are talented runners.
“We’re striving to build up strength through practice to establish consistency on race day. I have confidence it will happen.”
Tabor finished ahead of fellow KCAC member McPherson College, who had finished ahead of the Bluejays the previous week.
“We can’t be disappointed (with our finish) when we don’t leave anything out there on the course,” Hunt said.
Coming-Tabor will take a week off from competition, but will return to action Saturday, Oct. 8, for the Kansas Wesleyan Invitational at Salina.
The women will run at 12:30 p.m. and the men at 1:15 p.m..
“At times it’s good to take the pressure off of preparing for a race at the end of the week,” Hunt said. “With a week off from racing, we’ll be focusing on the workouts.”
