K-State cross-country closed its regular season Saturday, Oct. 17, with two second-place finishes at the Weis-Crockett Invitational.
The Wildcat men scored 56 points in the 8-kilometer race, while the women finished with 53 points in the 6K.
Oral Roberts senior Abraham Chelangam won the men’s 8K race in 24:20.0, finishing 4.5 seconds ahead of Oklahoma State’s Henry Dover, who placed second in 24:24.5. The Cowboys placed five runners between second and sixth to secure the team title with 20 points.
On the women’s side, Oklahoma State’s Gentry Turner won the 6K in 21:09.1, pulling away with a strong finish over the final 1,000 meters to earn her first career cross-country victory. Teammate Autumn Michalski finished second in 21:24.7, while the Cowgirls placed five runners in the top seven to claim the team title with 19 points.
K-State last earned runner-up finishes in both races at the Bob Timmons Classic on Sept. 19, 2020.
“The main focus of this meet was to help us get a feel for the course prior to Big 12s,” assistant coach Brent Ewing said. “For many of our athletes, this is the most challenging course they’ve ran.”
Sophomore Max Larson led the K-State men for the third consecutive meet, finishing eighth in 24:43.1. Junior Jackson Esquibel followed in 10th at 24:54.7, while junior Brock Olsen placed 12th in 25:03.6.
Sophomores Dylan Plath and Logan Beckman rounded out K-State’s top five, finishing 14th and 15th, respectively. Plath ran 25:21.0, while Beckman finished in 25:24.1.
On the women’s side, freshman Joyce Kiptabut led the Wildcats with a sixth-place finish in 21:53.9. Sophomore Payton Fink finished ninth in 22:09.3, and junior Christine Jerono placed 11th in 22:19.9.
Senior Paige Baker and freshman McKenna Montgomery finished back-to-back in 17th and 18th place. Baker recorded 22:41.7, while Montgomery finished in 22:57.2.
With both teams finishing second, K-State will use the experience as it prepares for the postseason. The Wildcats will return to Stillwater for the Big 12 Championship on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course.
“I expect us to learn a lot from today’s races and come back more prepared in two weeks,” Ewing said.
