Wildcat XC nabs six top-50 finishes at Gans Creek Classic

The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·2 min read

Oct. 1—Kansas State men's and women's cross country competed at the Gans Creek Classic at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo. on Friday.

The Wildcats put up six individual top-50 finishes.

The K-State women placed fifth overall with 176 points while the men finished eighth with 181 points.

North Florida won the men's title with 72 points and Texas A&M women won with 64 points.

"The men had a solid race, and we will be even stronger in a couple weeks," stated head coach Ryun Godfrey in a release. "The women ran well, too. All six girls running today had personal bests."

Junior Hadley Splechter had the top finish for the K-State men, taking 17th out of the 183 competitor field with a time of 24:28.9 which is almost a full second faster than the time he put up at the Cowboy Jamboree on Sept. 18.

Several other Wildcats finished inside the top 50 including freshman Matthew Hauser placed 40th with a 24:55.4 and freshman Thomas Hazen placed 42nd (24:56.6).

Following those three for the K-State men include junior David Lutgen (51st, 25:05.3), senior Noah Stevenson (84th, 25:37.0), junior Mike Rohlinger (87th, 25:39.7), junior Kyle Johnston (99th, 25:47.5), junior Jack Moore (106th, 25:52.2), sophomore Jack Vincent (25:53.9), freshman Carson Sturdy (120th, 26:14.3) and freshman Alex Gutierrez (131st, 26:33.5).

For the women, junior Sydney Burton led K-State with a personal-best time of 21:24.4 which was good for 11th place. Junior Hannah Stewart finished right behind Burton in 15th with a time of 21:28.6.

Junior Cailan Steward placed 28th (21:47.2) as the final Wildcat to finish in the top 50.

Junior Katie Kasunic (56th, 22:41.2), sophomore Helen Giefer (74th, 22:59.3) and junior Delaney Kemp (113th, 23:53.9) also ran for the K-State women.

The Wildcats will have a two week break before traveling down to Tallahassee, Flor. for the Pre-National Invitational hosted by Florida State which will be the final competition for the Wildcats travel to Stillwater, Okla. for the Big 12 Cross Country Championships.