K-State cross country head coach Michael Smith took his men and women to the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. for a glimpse at national competition last Saturday in the Pre-National Invitational. K-State went up against some incredibly tough competition, the women in particular ran with six top 15 teams: No. 2 Florida State, No. 5 Georgetown, No. 6 Oregon, No. 11 Stanford, No. 12 Colorado and No. 14 Michigan. The lady Wildcats finished 30th, with No. 5 Georgetown taking home the gold.
“We hoped that as a team we could finish in the top 20,” Smith said after the competition. “The field was very strong today, we were competing against some of the best teams in the country. We beat some teams we were supposed to beat and competed well against Big 12 schools and schools in our region.”
Junior Laura Galvan set a season best with 20:54.40 while finishing 37th among 340 runners in the women’s 6,000 meter blue race. Senior Martina Tresch, sophomore Mary Frances Donnelly and freshman Morgan Wedekind also recorded season bests.
On the flip side, the men finished 16th overall in the 8,000 meter white race with Ohio coming in first. Freshmen Jeff Bachman and Lukas Koch led the men, finishing 64th and 66th respectively.
The Wildcats will have two weeks to recoup and improve before traveling down to Bear country to compete in the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas on Nov. 2. Last year the women finished sixth and the men recorded eighth.
“We are measured by how we compete in the Big 12 meet,” Smith said.