Lady Jays finish second in Salina
Tabor cross country team enjoyed a successful Saturday at the Kansas Wesleyan Invitational at Salina's Bill Burke Park.
Led by a 3-4 finish from Angie Jost and Heidi Schmidt, the Lady Bluejays finished runner-up to Friends by a slim nine-point margin, 55-64.
The men's team took fourth with 88 points, 62 behind winner Missouri Valley.
For the first time since her freshman year, Jost ran a personal record time of 19:21 for third.
Jost came in 1/100 of a second and a place above Schmidt, who also set a personal record for five kilometers.
Amber Wiens' time of 20:41 for 11th tied her personal record.
A week after being sidelined for the Tabor Invitational due to illness, Tiffany Stevens made a strong comeback, taking 26th in 22:10.
"The women ran really strong races today," said Bluejay coach Karol Hunt. "The women's performances are a real credit to the work ethic of this group."
Highlights for the men included Kevin Larson, posting his best career finish for Tabor, coming in 18th on the eight-kilometer course at 33:22.
Twenty-one hundredths of a second behind Kevin Larson was Mike Norris, who was 21st.
Anthony Bartlett was 22nd (33:57), and Matt Lynam took 23rd (34:14.)
Jeff Anenson crossed the line in 34:36 for 36th place.
The men were hampered by the absence of Kyle Larson, who was nursing a leg injury.
"Both the 5K and the 8K were redesigned this year," Hunt said. "The 8K winning time was 31:31 which indicates the course was most likely long.
"Normally, the first place time is in the 26s or 27s. Kevin finished two minutes behind that winning time, and from that perspective, I cannot be disappointed with our times. I think we had some gutsy races from the men today. We really missed Kyle, both his performance and his example."
On tap for the Bluejays is a trip Saturday to a meet at Ottawa held at Pomona Lake.
Races begin at 10:30 a.m. with the women, and the men beginning
