Lady 'Jay harriers take third at Friends
Bluejay men's cross country grabs fifth at Wichita's Raft Golf Course
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Lady Bluejay senior Angie Jost didn't run in last week's first meet due to a family commitment.
Jost proved she hadn't missed a step in her first meet Friday, staying ahead of 62 runners on the continuous, gradual hilly course the entire five kilometers, logging her fifth race win at Tabor.
Jost's first win since her freshman year, a meet best time of 20:50 paved the way for the Lady Bluejay team which finished third out of 11 schools.
The men's team, running without an injured Pete Richert, came in fifth with 164 points. KCAC stalwart Southwestern won the meet with 31 points, seven in front of runner-up Cowley County.
The Lady Bluejays' 86 points finished 51 behind winning Hutchinson Community College and just two behind runner-up Kansas Newman.
Jost had to fight off strong efforts from teammates Heidi Schmidt and Amber Wiens, who finished fourth and eighth with respective times of 21:16 and 21:41.
"Heidi and Amber practiced well this week and it showed in their performances," Bluejay coach Karol Hunt said. "We dropped off quite a bit with our fourth and fifth runners, but Tiffany Stevens and Rebekah Lockhart are still adjusting to the college cross country.
"With a little more experience, they will close the gap," Hunt added.
Stevens' time of 23:41 and Lockhart's 25:27 were good for 35th and 44th, respectively.
Jennie Throne rounded out the competition for the women's team with a 46th place time of 25:39.
Jeff Anenson used his experience to grab a 20th place time of 29:15 on an eight-kilometer course.
Freshman Anthony Bartlett finished with the second highest time for the men in 29:56.
"This race was a positive start for his college career," said Hunt, "but after we work on consistency, he will be much more competitive.
"That only comes with more experience. We ran well today. Both teams were focused."
The Larson twins crossed the finish line side by side, but Kevin was handed 42nd and Kyle was 43rd, both with times of 30:47.
Two hundredths of a second were all that separated Matt Lynam from 50th place, one teammate Mike Norris snagged to leave Lynam in 51st.
On deck for the Bluejays Saturday is the McPherson College Invitational held at the Rolling Acres Golf Course.
Women are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the men starting at 11:15 a.m.
