The Wichita State women’s cross country team kicked off its season with a team victory at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic held under the lights at the Fun Valley Sports Complex on Friday night.
The Shocker women finished first among six teams, scoring 42 points, while the men placed third out of twelve teams with 76 points.
Freshman Faith Ekart made a strong debut, securing third place in the 3-mile race with a time of 18:35.71. Sophomore Isabelle Hartnett followed closely in fourth place at 18:38.18.
Head coach Kirk Hunter praised Hartnett for her leadership, saying, “The goal for the girls was for Isabelle to pull the freshmen through the race, and she did a great job.” He noted her encouragement to teammates even when they struggled.
Other freshmen, Kalyn Willingham and Emily See, also had impressive debuts, finishing ninth (19:04.89) and 11th (19:23.76) respectively. Senior Farrah Miller completed the top five for Wichita State, taking 15th with a time of 19:53.68. Audrey Parson finished 27th at 20:49.00.
Hunter also acknowledged Miller’s performance, stating, “She was down a little bit in the middle, but for her last mile to come back from 21st to 15th was really good.”
For the men, six Shockers finished in the top 20 of the 4-mile race, led by redshirt-freshman Ian Schram, who finished 12th with a time of 20:45.00. Jonah Allison and Riley Vandaveer came in 14th (20:48.73) and 15th (20:51.55), followed by Bennett Meoli in 17th (21:01.03), Colin Graham in 18th (21:09.42), and Landen O’Neill in 19th (21:27.89). Ian Hunter finished 33rd with a time of 22:53.17.
“It was all about trying to run together as a pack,” Hunter explained, emphasizing that they followed his advice not to chase leaders, even if it affected their team placement.
Among the seven runners, five were underclassmen, and six were racing in a Shocker uniform for the first time. “These are young guys who have not had the chance to run college cross country, so it was a good experience for them,” Hunter noted, hoping it would positively influence the rest of their season.
The rest of the Wichita State cross country team will also make their season debut at the JK Gold Classic on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Clapp Cross Country Course.
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