(photo by Ed Bailey)
The Butler men took both the individual and team titles at the Ollie Isom Invitational on Friday at Wartick Farm.
Luke Johnston easily won the event in a time of 15:49, 11 seconds faster than the runner-up.
Butler would follow with five more runners in the top 11 of the event, including Jesus Macias in third (16:02), Jacob Hesse in fifth (16:17), Nolan Hesse in seventh (16:33), Brian Gonzalez in ninth (16:42) and Clayton Fletcher in 11th (16:49).
The Grizzlies posted just 18 points, 52 better than meet runner-up Highland with 70. Garden City was a distant third with 110 points, with Cowley and Pratt rounding out the top five teams.
The Butler women finished second in the team standings at the Isom meet with 47 points, finishing behind Allen County, which had 38 points.
Sheila Samoei was Butler's top finisher, placing fifth individually in a time of 19:56. Janie Salinas was seventh in 20:04, while Ariente Sims was ninth in 20:07. Kayla Davis (14th in 20:30), Veronica Sowder (21st in 21:15), Tesla Madsen (23rd in 21:26), Darian Trost (29th in 21:51) and Alex Fulton (33rd in 22:12) rounded out the Butler lineup.
The meet marked the final regular-season action for the Butler cross country teams. Butler will now prepare for the Jayhawk Conference/Region VI championships, to be held on Oct. 31 at Johnson County. The women will be looking to defend their regional championship from last year.
