By Logan Jones
Asst. Sports Editor
The NWOSU Cross Country team ran in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Joplin, Missouri on Nov. 17.
In a year filled with broken records, Saturday proved to be the perfect send-off for both squads.
The Ranger runners had six times in each the men’s 10K and the women’s 6K added to the top performances in school history.
Garrison Blanton, a sophomore from Ponca City, Oklahoma, now owns the school record in both the men’s 8K and 10K races after he finished with a time of 32:39.20, shattering the previous mark by over one minute held by current NWOSU graduate assistant coach, Sterlin Broomfield.
Other standouts on the men’s team include junior Bryce Koenig (34:57.20) and freshman Noble Buckhaults (35:10.50) who finished seconds apart from each other in the regional meet for the fourth and fifth 10K marks in program history, respectively.
Sophomore runner Chris Kincaid crossed the finish line at the 36:32.30 mark for the eighth individual NWOSU performance and freshman Cody Schmidt sets ninth in program history at 36.44.
Sophomore Colton Reed rounded out the Ranger men’s finishers Saturday morning with a time of 37:30.4, finishing only four-tenths behind his 10K personal record set during the 2017 season.
In the women’s race, five of the six runners participating for the Rangers clocked times in the top eight in program history.
Senior Kayla Gourley answered the call in her final meet as she finished at 25:15.90 for third in program history. Gourley also holds the second top performance set last year at 25-flat.
Freshman runners Journey LeBeau (25:46.1) and Ladasheray Bell (26:08.9) logged back-to-back performances in the all-time 6K list, followed closely behind junior Jessalyn Rivet (26:12) for the fourth through sixth top marks.
Junior Crystal Castillo had an outstanding day as she finished the race with a time of 27:07.70 for the eighth individual performance in program history, and freshman Jean Dodds capped the season with a 30:40 for 15th.
Head coach Jill Lancaster was more than pleased with her runners.
“Since taking over we’ve had the ability to continue to improve,” Lancaster said. “Obviously they re-wrote the record books for both the men and women. Both the men and the women are very youthful which bodes well for the future.”
Assistant coach Brock Himesaid he was excited for the future.
“We took another step in the right director under Coach Lancaster,” Hime said. “If you look at our team averages from last year to this year, it’s very apparent that we are getting better and better.”