By DACODA MCDOWELL-WAHPEKECHE, Sports Editor
SHAWNEE – In the first race in more than one year, the Northwestern men’s cross-country team took fifth place at Gordon Cooper Technology Center on Jan. 22 while the women’s team could not officially compete.
Oklahoma Baptist University, another member of the Great American Conference, was host to the first meet of the season. Oklahoma Baptist took the victory in both the men’s and women’s races. Northwestern took fifth place in the men’s race.
Northwestern has six returners from last season and two new runners on the men’s team.
Timothy Jacobson and Noble Buckhaults finished neck-and-neck in the race, with Jacobson getting the edge. He finished with a time of 24:07.69.
Buckhaults finished with a time of 24:07.98.
Chris Kincaid finished third among the Northwestern runners, with a time of 25:00.60.
“It feels pretty good to be back,” Kincaid said. “I am not as healthy as I used to be because I haven’t raced in a year and a half due to injury and due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it feels good to be out here with the school and show what this school stands for.”
Nick Castillo finished his first race with a time of 26:16.80. Victor Cruz finished with a time of 26:41.18. Nick Nakvinda made his collegiate athletic debut with a time of 27:00.79. David Clemente and Caleb Pierce rounded out the team’s race.
On the women’s team, three Lady Rangers competed for the program. Emily Smith and Mallory Paruszewski made their collegiate debuts after a delayed start to the season because of the coronavirus. Melissa Perez, a junior at Northwestern, returned for her second season.
The women’s team did not have enough runners to compete for points at the event. Several runners stayed in Alva because of COVID-19 safety protocols.
The course at Gordon Cooper Technology Center was home to the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association cross-country state championship races until 2020. Smith is familiar with the course because she is a three-time state qualifier from Holdenville.
Smith ran the two-mile race with a time of 13:27.28 to finish 19th overall in the race. Perez followed with a time of 16:14.40 with Paruszewski following with 16:54.64.
“Now we kind of see how we stack up against competition,” assistant coach Craig Binkley said. “This really sets the bar as far as how we make that next step into getting better in competing against those teams.”
The last race for the Northwestern cross-country program was at the NCAA Division Two Central Region Championship in Joplin, Missouri.
Northwestern is competing in a shortened season because of the coronavirus. They run two other races before competing in the Great American Conference Championship on Feb. 27 in Weatherford.