Kansas State cross country opened its season in the Bob Timmons Classic at Rim Rock Farm, hosted by Kansas. Both squads placed in the top three.
The women’s team came in second place with 41 points while the men’s team made a third-place impression with a 62-point finish.
Junior Grace Meyer led the way, placing runner-up in the women’s 5k with a time of 18:06.2. The Wildcats owned another pair of top 10 placements for the women.
Freshman Christine Jerono ran her first race and finished ninth at 18:51.7, while junior Cecilia Fisher finished in 10th place at 18:53.3.
Freshmen Bree Newport (12th; 19:16.2) and Gracie Jacobs (16th; 19:32.5) made their mark as well, competing in their first collegiate meet.
“We had a lot of freshmen on both sides, just really pleased with the freshmen, how they stepped up,” head coach Kate Bucknam said to K-State Athletics. It’s going to be a really fun group to work with.”
“[I am] so happy with those kids that are either freshmen or just haven’t raced in a long time,” Bucknam continued. “That was just encouraging to see them step up and, you know, not treat it like they hadn’t done it in a while.”
Senior Alexa Rios (17th; 19:33.7) competed in her first race since 2022. Sophomore Paige Baker (18th; 19:39.6) and junior Katie Schwartzkopf (20th; 19:48.3) both finished just shy of her.
For the men’s 6k, senior Tommy Hazen sprinted into 4th place, setting a new personal record of 18:43.8. Several other Wildcats earned a spot in the top 20. Freshman Peyton Willbanks came in 12th (19:18.2), followed by freshman Lucas Holdren (16th;19:32.6) and senior Alex Gutierrez (18th; 19:35.3).
Three additional runners finished close with freshman Jackson Esquibel taking 21st place with a time of 19:40.0, and sophomores Jacob Norris and Adam Snoke finishing 24th and 27th, respectively, with times of 19:48.0 and 19:55.9 in their debut 6k race.
The men’s team top five scores in the 6K were:
- Kansas, 25
- Oral Roberts, 60
- K-State, 62
- Kansas City, 118
- Park University, 137
The women’s team top five scores in the 5K were:
- Kansas, 28
- K-State, 41
- Oral Roberts, 59
- Kansas City, 123
- Baker University, 145
“Overall, I thought it was a great start,” Bucknam said. “You know, we’re a younger team, we had a lot of people race today that didn’t race this race last year. And so, it was really good just to get eyes on them, get a snapshot of where we’re at as a team.
“… We’re going to have a really nice training block coming up,” Bucknam continued. “Overall, this is a great start to the season and a great start to the year.”
K-State will compete at the Gans Creek Invitational on Sept. 27 in Columbia, Missouri.