Butler Cross Country Coach Jeff Becker again decided not to race several runners last week and instead kept them training for meets later in the season. However, he did call on six runners to compete at two separate meets on Sept. 15.
Five of the six runners took to the course in Hutchinson at the Blue Dragon Invitational. While the lone athlete to travel to Joplin, Mo., for the Missouri Southern Invitational was sophomore Cesar Sanabria.
In Hutchinson, Butler ran three ladies in the women's race. Leading the way for the women was sophomore Fiona Masai. She crossed the line in second place on the five kilometer course, by running a time of 20 minutes and 28 seconds.
Not far behind Masai was freshman Abiane Collymore in third place. Collymore's hit the line just 16 seconds behind Masai in 20:44.
Assistant Coach James White said, "Both Fiona and Abiane competed really well on a tough course."
Sophomore Aadrian McCollum also competed in Hutchinson for the Butler women. McCollum finished 20th in 24:12.
For the men that took the trip to Hutchinson, Butler had sophomore Drake Brown and freshman Fidel Munoz compete.
Both Brown and Munoz brought home top 20 finishes. Brown finished the eight kilometer course in 14th with a time of 29:06 and Munoz crossed in 16th place with a 29:20.
While Coach White was in Hutchinson with five of the athletes, Coach Becker was in Joplin with Sanabria.
Sanabria made the trip worthwhile by bringing home the a 14th place finish in a race that featured 195 Juco/College athletes. It was his second race of the season and the first time that Becker allowed him to run without any restrictions.
Becker said, "He ran well finishing 14th in a very tough race."
Sanabria's time of 26:17 also put him among the top Juco runners in the race as he was the second Junior College athlete to cross the line.
The next action for the cross country team will be Sept. 28 at the Grass Routes Festival in Austin, Tex.
