COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA, headed to the Gans Creek Cross Country course on Saturday to run in the Brian T. Simpson Invitational hosted by the University of Missouri - St. Louis.
The Coyotes posted a third place finish in the final standing, trailing only University of Saint Mary and NCAA Division II Drury University in the team standings. The Coyotes finished with 97 points overall.
Gans Creek will play host to the 2024 NAIA National Championships in November, and the Simpson Invitational gave the Coyotes a chance to preview the course before the National Championships.
Austin Hess paced the Coyote finishers with a sixth place finish covering the 8K course in 25:12.14. Julian Avila was 16th for the Coyotes in 25:32.16, Damion Jackson was 23rd in 25:50.58, Jake Cruz was 24th in 25:50.80, Ty Davidson was 40th in 26:18.37, Tytus Reed was 44th in 26:26.04, Tim Parish was 49th in 26:29.03, Austin Schaeffer was 51st in 26:33.32, Brenden Ellis was 55th in 26:36.66, Nicolas Martinez was 59th in 26:47.33, Triston Cottone was 90th in 27:38.98, Evan Pearce was 107th in 27:53.77, Ian Doss was 115th in 27:59.21, Wyatt Johnson was 131st in 28:19.24, Landon Steeger was 134th in 28:34.48, Nate Chavez was 138th in 28:38.26, Brodie Bradshaw was 141st in 28:51.18, Jack Horacek was 158th in 29:39.62, Will Childers was 178th in 31:20.38, and Roman Mai was 186th in 33:39.61.
Saint Mary was the team champion with 39 points, Drury was second with 59, followed by KWU with 100, University of Missouri-St. Louis with 116 and Columbia (Mo.) in fifth with 133 to round out the Top 5 teams.
Saint Mary's Dominick Beine was the individual champion with a time of 24:54.37.