The Kansas State cross country team opened the season at the Bob Timmons Classic in Lawrence on Saturday. The event was the first of four that the Wildcats will participate in this season. Both the K-State men’s and women’s teams placed second.
K-State, Kansas and Iowa State squared off in the meet. This marked the first time since 2015 that K-State has opened the season in Lawrence.
Iowa State took the men’s 6k race with 20 points with the top three finishers, including an 18:06, first-place finish by junior Wesley Kiptoo.
Sophomore Cooper Schroeder placed fourth with a time of 18:27, which was the top spot for K-State. Senior Noah Stevenson finished in fifth. Sophomore Kerby Depenbusch and junior Stephen Kielhofner finished tenth and eleventh to help the Wildcats lock up second place.
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Kansas struggled in the opening event finishing with 65 points. The Jayhawks had one top ten finish by senior Ben Butler. The majority of the Kansas runners finished below 17th place.
Iowa State completed the sweep in the women’s 5k race, taking the top four spots, including a 17:08.5 finish by senior Cailie Logue. The Cyclones took eight of the top ten finishes to secure the win.
Junior Kassidy Johnson placed fifth in the race with an 18:09 finish. Sophomores Sydney Burton and Emma Lucas finished just outside of the top ten at 11th and 13th places to take second.
The Wildcats finished with 60 points to take second in the opening event of the season.
Sophomore Avryl Johnson was the lone top ten finish for the Kansas women’s team. The Jayhawks finished with 62 points to finished third as a team. Kansas again finished in the middle of the pack.
“The men ran well today,” said head coach Ryun Godfrey to K-State Athletics. “We had our top-four runners together for the majority of the race. We will need to hold together for a longer stretch as we prepare for championship racing. The women ran well today.”
The Wildcats will be back in action on Oct. 3 in Stillwater to participate in the Oklahoma Jamboree. K-State has had success in the event with five total top-five finishes and back-to-back third-place performances by the women’s team.
