Women’s Team’s Second-Place Finish Highlights Friday’s Race at Olivet
Bourbonnais, IL The Judson University Cross Country Teams participated in the Midwest Classic at Olivet Nazarene University on Friday. The Eagles fared well, as the women's team was second overall, while the men's team finished sixth.
The ladies' team's total time for the 5k race was 1:49:21.0. The team was led by Ella Richter, who finished fourth overall with a total 5k time of 20:13.70. Kasey Moreno had an 11th place finish with a 21:03.20 time. Eva Serrato (22:25.20, 14th), Grace Garcia (22:47.00 14th), and Mckinze Kearfott (22:53.10, 20th) all finished in the 23rd minute of the race.
"The women had an awesome race," said Head Coach Cameron Knudsen. "Ella ran a tough race as she went out with a big group at the beginning and only lost to one of them. The rest of the women all improved from their last two races, so we're going in the right direction. We're off for a few weeks now, so we have some time to make adjustments and get healthy for our big meets coming up later in the season."
The men's sixth place time for the 8k race was 2:25.52.70. Kyle Braund had a top-10 overall finish with a 27:50.70 total time to finish ninth. Dylan Bledsoe was 24th overall with a 28:47.80 time. Gage Fox (29:32.70, 32nd), Chase Porsche (29:44.00, 35th) and Juan Villagomez (29:57.70, 36th) finished in the 30th minute. Jaret Godinez (30:04.50, 40th) and Chase Ashcraft (30:43.70, 43rd) rounded out Judson's top seven.
"The men also looked better than last week as they showed a lot more urgency," said Knudsen. "Still, improvements to be done; but it's clear the fitness is there. Kyle ran a very good race for us. He improved his time from his race last year on this course by over a minute. Dylan is very close to having a very big race for us. He's adjusting to the 8-k race length still, but I'm confident he will have a breakthrough. Like the women, we're off for several weeks. We have a few adjustments to make, but I think we're poised for some big races down the stretch."
Judson returns to racing on October 8 at Mt. Mercy in Iowa.