Lady Tigers place first, men second at Fire Starter Classic

The Cowley College men's and women's cross country teams' fourth test of the season was Saturday at the Region VI Preview/Fire Starter Classic at Allen Community College in Iola, KS.

It had been three years since the Tigers went back to Cedarbrook Golf Course, which is the site of this year's regional meet. Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth wanted his runners to get a feel for the course prior to the region meet.

Race day conditions were a bit windy, but overall, it was a pretty solid day to run.

"I was very proud of how our groups showed up as a whole on Saturday," Rieth said. "We had a lot of personal bests, and people stepped up in areas we needed."

On the women's side, this was the first meet where the Tigers' ran a full squad, and they did not disappoint.

Cowley's Leticia Belo (19:17.2) placed third in the 5K race, while Dhennifer Vaz (19:35.1) and Kayli Myers (19:36.9) were just behind in sixth and seventh place. Brittannia Willis (20:15.2) and Lakota Schultz (20:16.1) placed 15^th and 16^th, respectively. The time for Schultz was a 30-second personal best, while Tavarie Campbell also ran well and placed 24^th with a time of 20:34.5, nearly two minutes better than her previous personal best.

"This was easily our best race of the season," Rieth said. "We ran so well together and had a fourth, fifth, and sixth runner step up. We have been looking great in practice, so we knew it was only a matter of time."

Cowley placed first out of seven schools. Dodge City finished second, and Hutchinson Community College placed third.

"Winning as a group against some really good teams is a good little indicator for things to come," Rieth said.

Britt Hunter (21:42.3) and Lili Rose Breheret (22:22.9) were other Cowley runners at the meet.

Butler Community College sophomore Khloi Bird placed first out of 70 runners with a time of 19:01.8.

On the men's side, it was a major step in the right direction for the Tiger runners as they placed second to only Northwest Kansas Technical College.

Freshman Miquel Cruz led the Tiger men's team by placing 10^th with a time of 25:50.78 in the 8K race. Mason Bickle (25:59.11), who had a monster 80-second personal best, was just behind in 13^th place.

Freshman Austin Schaeffer also ran well, placing 17^th with a time of 26:16.12. Schaeffer, along with Cruz and Bickle, moved into the top 30 times in the program's history. The Tigers' fourth runner was Mason Blochowiak (26:31.6), who just missed cracking the top 30 list.

"We have been needing something like this all season, and we finally delivered," Rieth said. "It was the first time that we finished as a full squad, and it was great to see us running and working as one unit out there."

To round out the scoring was, Randy Rojas (26:56.18) as the team's fifth runner. Kevin Rivas-Guillen (27:01.46), Maneul Leos (27:30.96), Elio Riveria (27:37.34), Deshawn Douglas (28:09.83), and Korbin Woods (30:34.74) were other Cowley runners at the meet.

"It was good to experience these kinds of (windy) conditions because we have to bring it on championship day regardless," Rieth said.

Butler Community College freshman Adem Bouldjadj won the men's race with a time of 23:39.1.

The Tiger men's and women's cross country teams will return to Cedarbrook Golf Course to compete at the Region VI/Jayhawk Conference Championships on Friday, October 27, in Iola, KS.

"I know in two weeks we will get each team's best shot," Rieth said. "It was good to put together a team win with the ladies. Much like the women, it was good to see the men compete and work together as a team, which I believe are necessary skills to know once we get into championship season. I think we are coming into the region/conference meet with a lot of momentum, and I am excited to see how we compete and represent Cowley."

Photo Credit: RyAnn Myers