The Baker men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Fort Hays State University Tiger Open Saturday in Hays.
The teams competed against NCAA Division I and Division II schools at the meet. Overall, the women placed sixth and the men placed ninth.
“We knew that the competition was going to be high, so we showed up ready to run,” freshman Lauren Jaqua said.
The teams competed against larger, high-ranked universities such as Western State College of Colorado and the University of Colorado, however, they held their own throughout the meet.
In the 5K, Jaqua placed 24th with a time of 18:45.80. Sophomore Lindsey Brown and freshman Megan Rosa were close behind her placing 27th and 28th, respectively.
In the 8K, junior Chris Scheideman placed 41st overall, with sophomore Aaron Caldwell following at 46th overall.
“Place-wise, team-wise, not as exciting as some of the other meets we’ve been to, but time-wise and where we placed individually, it was a great meet for us,” head coach Zach Kindler said.
Racing against such large schools kept the Wildcats from placing high overall, however many runners on both teams set personal records on the course, with every freshman recording a seasonal best time on the course.
“Out of the 25 people that went, I think I counted 17 seasonal bests,” Kindler said. “So, anytime that you have that, it’s exciting.”
Kindler said the teams have been working hard, but the course was flat and contributed to the fast times.
The team also had two runners racing for the first time after injuries, as well as a runner with the flu.
“(Freshman) Ashley McBride was sick, so if she would’ve ran like she was capable of running, then our team place for the ladies would’ve been a lot higher than it was at,” Kindler said.
McBride ran a time of 20:20.50, which is about 40 seconds slower than her usual running time. If she had run her regular time, Baker would’ve had a chance to place above Nebraska-Kearney, as well as Fort Hays State.
“We have been just on fire,” Scheideman said. “We’ve been killing our workouts. We all, as a team, have been running great workouts, great mileage, just getting stuff in and doing great.”
Scheideman and Jaqua received HAAC Runners of the Week honors for their performances Saturday.
Baker will participate in the Mid-States Classic hosted by Southwestern College Saturday in Winfield.
The meet is composed of all NAIA schools, and will give the Wildcats the chance to see where they stand after competing with high divisions.
