The Beaver cross country team competed at the NJCAA Region VI/KJCCC Championships on Friday, October 27th in Iola, KS. The men's team had three runners compete with freshman Achilles Matchers leading the pack with a time of 30:54.5 with Antonio Griffin trailing not too far behind with a time of 30:58.9. Sophomore Jace Baker finished his last cross-country race in a Beaver uniform with a time of 33:50.5. On the women's side, two runners competed, with Madison Butler leading the pack with a time of 22:57.5 with Jaeli Deel coming across the finish line with 25:29.3.
As this is the last meet of the season for the Beavers, we had a chance to sit down with Director of Cross Country, Track and Field Mathew Scott to recap the cross-country season and to talk about the future of the program. The team competed at five meets including last weekend's meet. They started their season at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in Hutchinson, KS. The team then traveled to the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin, MO followed by the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, AR. The team finished the season with two trips to Iola, KS first to compete at the Firestarter Classic on October 14.
Tell us about the successes of the season and some of the runners who stood out to you this season?
The big high of the season is almost every meet, except three times in the season the student athletes improved their time in every meet. That is statistically kind of an improbability in a lot of cases. It is nice to see that came together and happen. Fielding a much larger women's team than last year was nice as it is getting us closer to our goal of having both a men's and women's team simultaneously. Two of the three men's present on Friday also ran personal bests for the entire season between a minute and a minute and 26 seconds.
Tell us about your freshman runners including Achilles Matchers, the top runner this season?
If Achilles sticks his nose to the grindstone, he can progress and do well. He does have a lot of potential to do well. I think that some of the usual freshman distractions got in the way a little this fall, but he was progressing every meet that he ran.
Talk to use about the girl's team and the three freshman you had running this season?
We will have those three freshmen back next year and all ran either near their personal best or improved their personal bests. Madison Butler got closer to her personal best this season and looked strong all season. She was a little bothered by the cold, but still did quite well.
What has sophomore Jace Baker meant to you and this program over his two years?
Jace has been the guy who helps you lead the rest of the team and show them the expectations. He has been a great leader this year for our program.
What are your goals in growing the cross-country program as you continue recruiting for next fall?
The goal is to recruit 10 men and 10 women for the team. I believe we will be closer to each of those goals this next year. We should be a full team next year on both sides as we already have a few student athletes ready to sign in November. We have a couple from Oklahoma and one from Kansas.
The focus for the runners will now turn to track as the indoor track and field season will open on January 12-13 in Lincoln, NE at the Graduate Classic.