Cross Country teams make debut; men defeat #15 Missouri Valley
Men’s cross country team placed second in their first-ever competition and defeated 15th-ranked Missouri Valley … The women’s team showed well in their debut but did not enter enough runners to score.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- On the strength of the sixth man tie-breaker, the Bellevue University men's cross country team defeated the 15th-ranked team in the NAIA pre-season poll. The Bellevue University men's cross country team saw four runners compete as unattached individuals.
Men's Recap:
Bellevue and Missouri Valley were tied at 58 points after adding the places of the first five scoring members before having to go to the sixth man to break the tie. Charlie Null was the sixth finisher for the Bruins and Missouri Valley did not have a sixth runner, thus giving the Bruins the edge in the team race.
Host Missouri Western – an NCAA Division II school – was the overall team champion.
Weather conditions were extremely warm and humid while the course itself was challenging, covering the rolling terrain of the Missouri Western campus.
Chris Casart was the Bruins' lone medalist on the day, finishing in eighth place with a time of 26:23 over the 7K (4.2 mile) course. Cross country newcomer and former BU golfer Fernando Arzate just missed out on the top ten, finishing 11th in 27:40. Rounding out the Bruins scorers and finishing in 14-15-16 were Cole Wagner, Aaron Newton, and Jason Landin.
Women's Recap:
The Bruin women's team entered only four runners, and thus, were unable to score as a team. They were led by the 14-15 finish of Lorena Ramirez and Jordyn Seidel. Dayana Montano-Salama and Diane Montano-Salama had strong debuts for Bellevue to round out the Bruin competitors.
Host Missouri Western was the team champion.
Coach Craig Christians:
"I was very happy with the level of effort I saw from everyone today on a very tough day to run. All but one of the Bruins had never run a collegiate race before and I thought it was a great way to kick off our new program."
Up Next:
The Bellevue men's and women's cross country teams next compete at the Bronco XC Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15, hosted by Hastings College. The women's race is scheduled for 10 a.m. with the men's to follow at approximately 10:45 a.m.