Friday, November 21st, 2008

Women’s cross country squad finishes fourth at OSU Jamboree, men finish seventh

Five women runners place in the top 50 at the meet, and two Jayhawks take first and second in the men’s 8K race.

By Jason Baker (Contact)

Monday, October 6th, 2008

The Kansas cross country team went to Stillwater, Okla., this weekend with more focus and more confidence to compete in the 72nd OSU Jamboree. That extra confidence paid off, as both the men’s team and the women’s team got top 10 places at the meet.

The first event was the women’s 6K race. Junior Lauren Bonds’ ninth place finish with a time of 21:32 helped the Jayhawks secure a fourth place finish overall for the women’s team. Out of the seven girls that competed for the Jayhawks, five placed in the top 50, giving the team a point total of 160 including numbers from freshmen Rebeka Stowe and Lauren Nightengale and junior Alison Knoll.

The University of Northern Arizona was the Jamboree’s overall women’s team winner.

The women faced tough competition all throughout, but the real challenge for the women’s team was running the 6K race. The team went into Stillwater under the impression that they would be running a 5K but were told the day before the race of the change during warmups.

“I was a little nervous because I’ve never run a 6K before,” Stowe said. “But it wasn’t too bad.”

Stowe came in 47th overall and 5th for the Jayhawks with a time of 22:42. Stowe said the team was able to work as a pack, but said her squad still needs work.

“We just need to move the back three closer to Amanda and Lauren,” Stowe said.

Sophomore Amanda Miller came in second for the Jayhawks and 24th overall with a time of 22:05. It’s the third consecutive meet that Bonds and Miller have finished first and second for the Jayhawks.

“It shows that we know how to run together,” Bonds said.

The next event was the men’s 8K. Oklahoma State took first place for the second consecutive year and the Jayhawks took seventh place overall with the help of junior Bret Imgrund and freshman Donny Wasinger,

The men faced some of their toughest competition from home squad Oklahoma State, one of the top-ranked teams in the country.

“We knew they’ve got a good team and the best shot to beat Colorado at the Big 12 conference,” Imgrund said. “But that didn’t concern us. We just had to go out there and keep improving ourselves.”

Both Imgrund and Wasinger finished first and second, respectively, on the men’s side with a dual time of 25:48, with Imgrund barely edging out Wasinger at the finish line.

“The last 2K or so Donny came up next to me and we worked together the last 200 meters kicking hard and passing six other people,” Imgrund said. “I knicked him at the end, but we were working together and pushing each other.”

Freshman Clay Schneider came in 75th overall and ran a personal best this season of 26:46 at Stillwater.

“I’m pleased with that, but there are things to work on for bigger things in the future,” he said.

The redshirt freshman said he tried to stay focused during the race.

“You have to look at every race the same,” Schneider said. “There’s no difference between a small school and a national meet. If you look at any meet any different, then you’ll stress yourself out.”

Wasinger had a similar opinion about not being stressed by the competition.

“I’m not worried about it. I went in there without any expectations except to try and have a good race, It’s my freshman year, I’m getting a feel for running 8Ks and before I’ve never been to a race with so many kids.”

The next event on the Jayhawks’ schedule is the Indiana State Pre-Nationals on October 18 in Terre-Haute, Ind.

— Edited by Rachel Burchfield

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