<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1iUIWb_0vmKIwvM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1iUIWb_0vmKIwvM00" width="1957" height="1100" ></figure>K-State recorded multiple new personal bests in the first 8k and 6k of the seasonCOLUMBIA, Mo. – The K-State men's and women's cross country teams saw personal success on Friday (Sept. 27) at the Gans Creek Invitational at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.The women's team saw a team finish with 588 points in 21st place, the men's team in 28th place with 724 points. Stanford swept the men's and women's first place spot with 31 and 44 points, respectively.The men's team four returners all recorded new 8k personal bests, including senior Tommy Hazen who led the team in 85th place with a time of 24:29.4, 11 seconds faster than his previous time, jumping up to no. 17 in the K-State men's top-25 records.Freshman Peyton Willbanks (139th; 24:52.0) finished second for the men while senior Alex Gutierrez (174th; 25:10.3) and sophomore Jacob Norris (193rd; 25:21.4) both shaved seconds off their previous bests.Three more men ran in a tight pack with freshman Jackson Esquibel (214th; 25:32.4), sophomore Devin Chappel (224th; 25:35.4) with a new best time and freshman Lucas Holdren (231st; 25:41.6).Two women finished in the 6k top-100, junior Grace Meyer in 74th place with a new personal best time of 21:24.5, ahead of freshman Stella Miner in her first collegiate race in 90th place at 21:31.6.Three more freshmen finished in the top half of their first 6k race, Christine Jerono (126th; 21:49.3), Gracie Jacobs (172nd; 22:17.9) and Bree Newport (191st; 22:30.6). Sophomore Paige Baker (214th; 22:43.4) and junior Cecilia Fisher (226th; 22:50.1) were not far behind.K-State will hit the course again on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Ill., hosted by Bradley University at Newman Golf Course.FROM THE HEAD COACHHead Coach Kate BucknamOn the second race of the season…"Obviously it was, you know, a really competitive meet. Was good to get another race under our belt, just kind of after this little training block that we've had…. I thought they moved up really well throughout the race, that was kind of the objective going into it. Lot of good teams there, a lot of good competition, I felt like we did a good job of holding our own."On the young team experiencing this meet…"It was a really good meet, you know, a lot of good competition. So, kind of got thrown to the wolves a little bit, just coming from KU a month ago, and then coming here, it's obviously a drastic change. And so, I just thought they, for the most part, handled it well. I think it's, again, just the learning curve for freshmen, getting used to those distances and the training and all that kind of stuff, right, it kind of starts to pile on this time of the year, and the intensity is going to ramp up."On achieving personal bests early in the season…"To be hitting PBs halfway through the season, knowing we still got a lot of races left, is obviously a great spot to be in. So definitely a positive with that, for sure."FROM THE COURSESenior Tommy HazenOn his personal performance…"I felt pretty decent. We have a lot of training to go this season but it was a good starting point to work off of for the team."On the progress the team can make the remainder of the season…"We're looking forward to making some time improvements and working together throughout the race. This is a young team so the race experience today will help us a lot moving forward."MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)1. Stanford, 31 pts2. Tennessee, 163 pts3. Auburn, 167 pts4. Missouri, 180 pts5. Kentucky, 185 pts6. Lipscomb, 213 pts7. Ole Miss, 238 pts8. North Florida, 271 pts9. Illinois State, 280 pts10. Florida, 291 pts28. K-State, 724 ptsK-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)85. Tommy Hazen, 24:29.4 (PR)139. Peyton Willbanks, 24:52.0 (PR)174. Alex Gutierrez, 25:10.3 (PR)193. Jacob Norris, 25:21.4 (PR)214. Jackson Esquibel, 25:32.4 (PR)224. Devin Chappel, 25:35.4 (PR)231. Lucas Holdren, 25:41.6 (PR)300. Silas Miller, 26:55.8 (PR)301. Jack Steger, 26:57.6 (PR)WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)1. Stanford, 44 pts2. Tennessee, 91 pts3. Ole Miss, 120 pts4. Florida, 131 pts5. Georgia Tech, 164 pts6. Auburn, 182 pts7. Air Force, 189 pts8. Tulsa, 214 pts9. Kentucky, 243 pts10. Missouri, 336 pts21. K-State, 588 ptsK-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)74. Grace Meyer, 21:24.5 (PR)90. Stella Miner, 21:31.6 (PR)126. Christine Jerono, 21:49.3 (PR)172. Gracie Jacobs, 22:17.9 (PR)191. Bree Newport, 22:30.6 (PR)214. Paige Baker, 22:43.4226. Cecilia Fisher, 22:50.1269. Katie Schwartzkopf, 23:19.6325. Kate Kowalik, 25:10.2 (PR)-- k-statesports.com --How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Track and Field and Cross Country Teams, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.</div></body>

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Wildcats Record Personal Bests at Gans Creek Invitational

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The K-State men's and women's cross country teams saw personal success on Friday (Sept. 27) at the Gans Creek Invitational at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The women's team saw a team finish with 588 points in 21st place, the men's team in 28th place...