OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Both the Butler men and women's cross country teams took first place at the Cavalier Cup on Friday, which was held on the campus of Johnson County Community College.
The Grizzly men, ranked 13th in the NJCAA national poll, had five runners place in the top 10 and won the event by 29 points over Mid-America Nazarene. A light rain began at the start of the men's 5K, but the runners were facing a heavy downpour during the final stretch of the race.
Butler sophomores Jesus Macias (16:33.6) and Luke Johnston (16:33.7) crossed the finish line simultaneously to finish 1-2 in the race, while sophomore Nolan Hesse (16:37.1) was 3.4 seconds behind to place third. Freshman Jacob Hesse (16:48.7) and Clayton Fletcher (17:04.6) finished fifth and eighth individually overall, respectively.
In the women's 4K, Butler and Mid-America Nazarene both finished with 43 points, but the 16th-ranked Grizzlies won the tiebreaker by having its sixth-place runner with a better finish. Johnson County scored 61 points to finish third, while Longview (MO) and Highland placed fourth and fifth overall.
Butler freshman Sheila Samoei led for most of the race, but was passed on the final downhill run. Samoei finished second, running the 4K course in a time of 15:46.0, just less than 10 seconds behind Mid-America Nazarene's Halley Dean. Janie Salinas (16:00.0, fourth) and Kayla Davis (16:18.6, seventh) also finished in the top 10 for the Grizzlies.
Next up for the Butler cross country teams will be the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Stillwater, Okla. The college women's 5K will start at 8:00 a.m., while the college men's 8K is scheduled for 8:35 a.m.
