Fayetteville, Ark. – The Pratt Community College cross country team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas on Friday, September 30th for the 34th Annual Chile Pepper Festival. The men's team competed in the 8K with the women competing in the 5K.
Freshman Jamaira Ross had a record-breaking afternoon finishing in 30th place with a time of 19:20.5. Ross was unaware that she had broken the school's record in the 5K until the following day when it was discovered that the record had belonged to Patricia Koma. Koma had broken the record herself back in 2019 with at time of 19:32.2 finishing second overall at the Ollie Isom Invitational.
"Basically, it felt like a really good race and I did not know I broke the record upon finishing the race as I was just running to run," said Ross. "It was exciting as it has always been my goal to break a school record and last year I tried, but I had some ups and downs and this year I wanted to make a comeback and work hard. My goal is to hit below 18 minutes at the regional meet and break my own record."
For the men's team, it was a great afternoon as every runner showed improvement from the previous race in Lincoln, NE. Sophomore Collin Turley finished 54th place with a time of 26:57.0. Turley improved his course time from a year ago by 38 seconds. Crispus Atukwatse finished the race with a time of 27:51.7 a whole minute and 47 second improvement on his lifetime best. Freshman Jace Baker improved his lifetime best by a whole minute with a time of 34:53.3. Apostolo Zuniga finished the race with a time of 34:56.1 which was a 29 second improvement on his season best. Finally, freshman Arron Orr finished with a 47 second improvement on his lifetime best with a time of 45:36.4.
"All but one individual had either a course best, or a personal best. The other individual still had their second fastest 8K," said Director of Cross Country, Track and Field Mathew Scott. "The students are starting to hit at the right time and progressing forward and making significant jumps each week."
The Beavers will compete at the Ollie Isom Invitational next Friday, October 14 in El Dorado, KS before competing in the National Junior College Athletic Associations Region VI Championships on October 28 in Hutchinson, KS. The NJCAA Championships will take place the weekend of November 12 in Tallahassee, FL.