KWU Athletics
WINFIELD – Kansas Wesleyan women's cross country posted a third-place finish and the men a second-place finish at the KCAC Championships at Kansas Veterans Home on Saturday.
Coyote women
It's the third straight season the Coyotes have posted a third place finish in the conference championship.
Freshman Madisyn Ehrlich (FR/Salina) continued her stellar rookie campaign posting a 10th place finish in the race, covering the 5K course in 19:02.88.
Josie Koppes (SO/Manhattan) finished 19th for the Coyotes in 19:54.98, Joni Schroeder (FR/Salina) was 21st in 20:05.16, Alayna Behrman (SO/Craig) was 34th in 21:04.49, Charlee Lind (FR/Wamego) was 38th in 21:21.09, Regan Rhodes (SR/Mullinville) was 49th in 21:54.53, Kylie Mouser (SO/Wichita) was 56th in 22:25.85, and Savannah Pilsner (SO/Columbus, Texas) was 65th in 23:25.69.
KWU finished with a team score of 105, besting Southwestern and York to round out the top 5 finishing teams.
Saint Mary was the team champion with a score of 20 points. Tabor was second with 72.
Saint Mary's Riley Hiebert was the individual champion with a time of 17:43.71.
KWU men
The Coyotes now await to see if they will qualify as the second KCAC team to the NAIA National Championships later this month in Tallahassee, Florida. The NAIA changed its qualification model for a second automatic qualifier from a conference, that team must be ranked in the Top 30 of the final NAIA poll of the season, to qualify as a team to the National Championship.
That poll comes out Monday.
Regardless, two Coyotes punched NAIA National Championship tickets as individuals in Shane Calvin (JR/Lakin) and Austin Hess (JR/Garden City).
Calvin finished 7th in the race, covering the 8K course in 25:41.29. Hess posted a 14th place finish with a time of 26:00.02.
Jake Cruz (FR/Pasadena, Texas) was next to cross the line for the Coyotes in 19th, with a time of 26:15.56. Giovanni Rios (SO/Temecula, Calif.) finished 33rd in 26:57.99, Cisco Alvarez (SO/Colorado Springs, Colo.) was 34th in 26:59.04, Nicolas Martinez (FR/Coppell, Texas) was 40th in 27:13.74, Jack Horacek (SO/Topeka) was 41st in 27:17.35, Will Griffith was 56th in 28:29.94, Steven Merrill (JR/Arvada, Colo.) was 58th in 28:35.36, Ty Davidson (SO/Lakin) was 69th in 29:06.69, Julian Avila (SO/Manhattan) was 81st in 29:49.50, and Remington Wiseman (FR/Howard) was 102nd in 32:29.59.
The Coyotes were second in the team standings with 77 points, beating third place Tabor by eight points. Saint Mary was the KCAC Champion scoring only 20 points in the meet. The Spires had 10 of the top 12 finishers in the race.
Logan Horning from Friends was the individual champion with a winning time of 24:45.06.