Kansas State cross country competed in Stillwater, Okla., at the NCAA Midwest Regional, where the Wildcats sought to advance to the NCAA tournament.
The K-State women’s team competed in a 6k race and finished with an average time of 22:20.80, good for 19th place in the regional. The Wildcats’ first-ever NCAA race featured three freshman runners who competed due to injuries.
“For the women, I really think those younger girls stepped up and covered,” K-State head coach Kate Buckman said. “You got to do that, you got to be ready, can’t assume that everything’s going to go perfectly up front, so you have to be ready for that.”
K-State was led by senior Grace Meyer, who finished with a time of 21:44.5, putting her in 55th place in the race.
Junior runner, Vienna Lahner, ran her best 6k race of the season as she finished with a time of 22:14.90, landing her in 88th place. Junior Paige Baker also finished in the top 100, placing 93rd with a time of 22:17.00.
“These seniors have been my best friends for the past two and a half years, and this past season has taught me to take advantage of every second I have with them,” Baker said. “I really am so incredibly blessed to be on this team with these amazing girls.”
The K-State men competed in their first team 10k race of the season, finishing in 21st place with an average time of 33:21.34.
The sophomore duo, Jackson Esquibel and Brock Olsen, continued to lead the way for the K-State men’s team. Esquibel placed in 68th place with a time of 32:27.5, while Olsen finished with a time of 32:44.0 in 86th place.
“I’m super, super proud of them,” Buckman said. “You look at Jackson and Brock and Logan and those guys just, they ran really, really smart. And of course, so did Julian and Canyon, but you know, those top three guys, they’re just consistent, and they knew what they were doing.”
Other finishers for the men’s team included Logan Beckman, who finished with a time of 33:00.6, which put him in 102nd place. Julian Avila and Canyon Buehler came in 149th and 169th, respectively, to round out the Wildcats’ team.
“You can look at the scoreboard, you can look at all that stuff, but there was so much success that happened this season that’s just going to be behind the scenes and can’t tell, but it’s there and it’s happening,” Bucknam said.
K-State has now concluded its 2025 season and its second season under head coach Kate Buckman. The Wildcats are a young team, but they showed signs that the futures of both the women’s and men’s programs are trending in the right direction.
