Results
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Honoring the Hall of Fame, Olympic 10,000 meter gold medal winner, and former Kansas University athlete, Billy Mills, the Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene University traveled to Lawrence to showcase their abilities in the Billy Mills Classic. They came to give their best in a rare early evening meet.
The ladies of MNU set the tone for the Pioneers as four of the top six finished in the top ten on a course whose distance was short of a 5,000 meter race.
Bella Meili led the charge as she broke into the 18 minute mark for her fastest pace per mile of the season, finishing second overall. Following her,
Anna McKnight,
Riley J. Filmore, and
Julia Swearengin also finished in the top ten; fifth, eight, and ninth, respectively. Like Meili, Filmore and Swearengin had paces per mile that were their fastest of this cross country season. With four in the top ten, the Pioneers had a great team presence. The final scorer, the fifth Pioneer,
Lana Smittick, was only three places back, putting five in the first dozen.
Josie McClung duplicated the task of pace improvement while finishing 15th overall. With six in the top fifteen, the Pioneers looked very impressive. Unfortunately, Cottey was able to get five in the top ten to take the team title with the Pioneers grabbing the runner-up spot.
Next up, the Pioneer men also had equally impressive results in a race short of 8,000 meters with both
Aidan Scherman and
Ray Kosgei breaking into the 24-minute range while taking sixth and seventh, respectively. Like Scherman and Kosgei,
Ken Morgan posted a time that reflected his best pace per mile for the season. Meanwhile veteran
Jackson Elsey had his first start of the season, helping teammate
Josiah Robinson to his best pace for the season. For the Pioneer men, it was their first team score this fall. Like the ladies, they grabbed the runner-up spot, beaten by the host, Haskell.
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