HUTCHINSON, Kan. – With two top 10-finishers on the women’s side and all six runners on the men’s side placing in the top-10, the Cloud County Community College cross country teams would set the tone for the 2019 seasons with quality results at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in Hutchinson, Kansas on Friday.
The women would not record a team score due to only having three runners compete in the event, but saw the men handily win the 12-team competition with a total of 23 points, well ahead of second-place Hutchinson Community College (42 points).
In the three-mile women’s race, Kya Johnson would place third overall in her first collegiate race with a time of 19:42.20, while Maryse Mbenoun would come in 10th overall with a time of 20:43.10. The T-Birds would also have Ludjenie Mondesir run in the meet, placing 28th overall with a tie of 22:06.50 to give CCCC three top-30 runners.
On the men’s side of things, it would be freshman Dais Malebana who would win the 103-runner race with a time of 19:51.80 to finish the four-mile course as one of just two runners to break the 20-minute plateau. T-Bird runners would secure spots four through seven as Saba Khvichava (20:39.50), Habtamu Geta (21:25.70), Gabriel Chinya (21:32.50) and Kwanele Mthembu (21:38.40) would land Cloud County five of the top seven runners in the field with Ablel Gebreselase (21:43.80) placing 10th overall to allow CCCC to have all six runners finishing in the top-10.
What’s Next?
A trip north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota will find the T-Birds competing next Friday night in the Augustana University Twilight Meet on Friday. The meet, which will take place at Yankton Trail Park, will feature a 5K race for the women beginning at 8:30 p.m. while the men’s four-mile race will get underway at 9 p.m.