The Pratt Community College cross country team took part in the Fort Hays State University Tiger Open hosted in Victoria, Kan. Both the men and women from PCC competed in the black division where they mostly faced other community colleges, including several schools from the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
PCC was well represented on the women's side with three top-50 finishes. The Beavers went into the contest holding a No. 16 national ranking.
The leader of the group was none other than second-year runner Aminata Kenyawani with a time of 19:09.7. The sophomore went home with a second place finish individually. The gap between Kenyawani and the first place finisher was a measly four seconds.
Freshman Shantierra Jackson stepped up to earn twelfth place. Jackson ran a 20:15.0 time and recorded a personal best by three seconds.
Finishing in fiftieth place for the Beavers was freshman Jamie DeLaTorre. DeLaTorre crossed the line with a 21:19.0.
In several spots behind, freshman Serena Blaske earned a personal record as well. For a one-hundredth place finish, Blaske posted a time of 24:13.9 which shaved off six seconds from her previous best.
The lady Beavers as a unit produced a fourth place finish in their division. The efforts earned them a trophy as they were one of the top performing junior colleges at the meet.
"The girls faced their first tough test of the season and raced pretty well. There are some things that can be improved on such as getting a stronger pack where the girls are not so spread out. A tight pack is essential for the races at both regionals and nationals," said Head Cross Country Coach Eric Larson. "The girls' trophy is a nice gesture to how they ran. We want a better trophy when we compete in region."
PCC's men also had several remarkable feats. Four of the five male runners that competed for Pratt received personal bests.
First-year runner Ericka Estrada guided his team yet again and crossed the 8K mark 52 seconds faster than ever before. Estrada managed to snag a fifty-eighth place finish individually with a time of 27:39.0.
Stepping up for the Beavers was sophomore athlete Jared Shriver. A finish of 28:57.0 marked the fastest Shriver has ever been by an astounding 79 seconds. By finishing over a minute faster than usual, Shriver completed the race in one hundred-twelfth place.
Pratt had two long-distance runners who improved upon their best times by 65 seconds. The first was a sophomore, Kylan Wess, who finished in one hundred-thirteenth place behind Shriver by less than a single second.
Freshman Diondray Harris also improved by a margin of 65 seconds. A new best time of 31:54.0 landed Harris in one hundred-fifty-eighth place.
"We had a lot of personal records which was great to see! I am looking for better times these next two races, and hopefully that gets us to our goals," said Larson.
PCC cross country will take a week off of competition before competing again in the Region VI Championships on Oct. 27. The Beavers can be seen in postseason action for the first time beginning at 10 a.m.