The Pratt Community College cross country team started the season by competing in the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in Hutchinson, Kan. PCC achieved many accolades on the day. The Beavers competed against five schools on the men's side and eight on the women's side.

The Classic started with the women's three mile run. Five different PCC athletes placed in the top 25. Pratt finished the competition with a third place finish overall. Aminata Kenyawani managed to take first place in the women's event by running an 18:37.5 individual time. Kenyawani improved from the 2017 Masterson Classic where she previously ran a 20:00.32 time and finished in the top 25. Following her was Jamie DeLaTorre who finished the meet with an overall time of 21:02.4. DeLaTorre placed 14^th in the competition. Teammate Anastasia Graves ran right behind DeLaTorre and took 15^th place. Graves ran a time of 21:11.9. Kenyawani gave the Beavers their first individual title win since the 2014 season. The PCC runner went on to be named national female athlete of the week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

"I was proud of the way or girls finished. We missed out on a trophy by only 5 points which is exciting to see in the early season. We'll continue to build on our overall fitness level. The girls are shaping out to be able to finish in the top half of the region and conference," said head coach Eric Larson. "It was very exciting to see Aminata win her first ever college cross country meet. She won many track meets last season, but this is by far the best performance she has ever put out".

The men's four mile run showed much promise for the Beavers as well. PCC finished fourth place as a team during the competition. The Beavers' best most successful runner was Erick Estrada who finished 21^st individually with a 23:10.1 time. Runners Kylan Wess and Josh Leveratte ran closely behind. Wess finished the race individually at 24^th place (24:00.5). Leverette finished next to his teammate with a time of 24:03.8.

"The guys showed mental toughness and all the other pieces needed to be successful in a race. Now we just need to continue working on our level of fitness in order to move up the pack," said Larson.

PCC cross country continues competition in the Southern Stampede on Sep. 15.