AUGUSTA, Kan. - The Butler cross country teams were in action for their season opener Saturday morning at the J.K. Gold Classic, held at the RAFT Golf Course and hosted by Wichita State University.
The women placed fourth overall as a team in the 4K, with freshman Sheila Samoei as the top Grizzly individual finishing 19th with a time of 15:51.1. Teammate Janie Salinas was just five seconds behind Samoei, placing 22nd as she finished the course in 16:00.8.
Helping the Butler women in the team points were Kayla Davis (17:09.9, 46th), Tesla Madsen (17:31.1, 56th) and Kimberly Travis (17:54.1), while Alex Fulton (18:03.5, 68th) and Darian Trost (18:22.5, 72nd) finished sixth and seventh individually for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzly men's team started their race with six competitors, but only four finished the 6K course, which left Butler unable to score points as a team. Sophomore Nolan Hesse was the top men's finisher for Butler, with a time of 19:55.7 and placing 16th overall. Freshman Jacob Hesse finished 24th with a 20:17.1 time. Other finishers for the men were Brian Gonzalez (21:06.3, 41st) and Shevon Blair (22:18.2, 66th).
Butler will return to action in less than two weeks as the teams will compete in the Johnson County Invitational on Friday, Sept. 18 in Overland Park. The women's 4K race will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the men's 5K to follow at 6:00 p.m.
