Wichita, Kan. – The Friends University Cross Country squads "hit the ground running" with their first competition at the J.K. Gold Classic hosted by Wichita State University. The meet was held at the RAFT Golf Course near Augusta on Saturday, September 6th.  

The ladies were led by Grace Aitken (FR/Maize, Kan.), who covered the 4k course in 15:48 to place 34th overall and 8th among non-D1 schools. Teammates Brooke Zimmerman (FR/Goddard, Kan.) and Sydney Roy (FR/Maize, Kan.) were not far behind. They finished 9th (15:53) and 12th (16:01) respectively. The Falcons top five ladies were rounded out by Bethany Vonada (FR/Shawnee, Kan.) in 19th (16:16) and Haley Welch (JR/Rose Hill, Kan.) in 40th (17:12). The women placed 3rd among the 10 non-D1 schools participating.

Head Coach Damian Smithhisler was pleased with the overall performance and excited about the promise of a strong season. "This was a great start to a season that has high expectations. We took advantage of the great weather and ran a solid race today across the board. This is a young team, but they've done a super job of pack running and pacing thus far in the early going. As they get more race experience they will be a force to be reckoned with.

"We ran two of our ladies as unattached this morning. With Megan Ballinger (SO/Goddard, Kan.) plugged in, we actually would've won the meet among the non-D1 schools, as she would've been our true 5th runner at 17:06. That's a pretty solid way to start the season."

The men's team placed 8th among the 10 non-D1 schools but that result is a little deceiving. "We had 5 of our 13 men running unattached this morning, mostly waiting on transcripts so that they can be certified," said Smithhisler. "Much like the ladies, with everyone on board, we'd have finished top 4 today.

Easton Moore (FR/Bonner Springs, Kan.) was the top finisher, although one of the unattached members. He ran 19:45 for the 6K race, which placed him 32nd overall and what would've been 9th among non-Div1 schools. "We've got great depth on the men's team this year. It's a great balance of veterans and newcomers, and they are all pushing and pulling each other to improve," Smithhislers said.

Max Burley (SO/Ponca City, Okla.) was the first official finisher for the Falcons in 25th place (20:35). Following Max were two other returners in Brooks Rummery (SO/Maize, Kan.) and Mitch Heller (SR/Shawnee, Kan.). They finished 27th (20:37) and 31st (20:44) respectively. Joseph Newman (FR/Goddard, Kan.) completed the top 5 for the Falcons, running 20:59 to finish 40th in his first collegiate race. 

In an effort to grow some community among the conference (KCAC) schools and distance runners in general, Coach Smithhisler said that his team brainstormed some ideas during the pre-season and put some into action today. "Distance running takes hard work and discipline. There is a great mutual respect between competitors knowing that every participant has had to put in a lot of work and make sacrifices to get where they are. We will see our conference competitors many times over the course of the year with cross country, indoor & outdoor track meets. You begin to develop friendships with athletes and coaches from other schools during that time. To help grow that brother/sisterhood in running, we came up with something similar to many other team sports. When the game is over, many sports line-up and go through the "good game" line. It's an act of sportsmanship and appreciation for your fellow competitors.

"I sent an email out to all of the conference coaches inviting them to join us after every race this season for a closing prayer and short gathering of fellowship and sportsmanship. We had over 40 athletes/coaches involved at the first meet, and I'm hopeful that by the time the conference meet rolls around, we will have an awe-inspiring group that really showcases the NAIA Champions of Character mentality."

The Falcons are off this weekend, but will return to action next Saturday, September 20th at the Missouri Southern State Stampede in Joplin, MO. The women will run their first 5k of the season at 8AM and the men their first 8k at 9AM. 

Women's 4K Individual Results: http://www.goshockers.com/pdf9/2782714.pdf?ATCLID=209637293&DB_LANG=C
Men's 6K Individual Results: http://www.goshockers.com/pdf9/2793007.pdf?ATCLID=209637293&DB_LANG=C
Team Scoring: http://www.goshockers.com/pdf9/2782712.pdf?ATCLID=209637293&DB_LANG=C

You can check out the full gallery by Joseph Mysers Photography by clicking here.