WINFIELD, Kan. — In his first junior college race Saturday, Butler freshman Cale Carson took home runner-up individual honors Saturday at the Tiger-Builder Invite, held on the campus of Southwestern College.

In his first junior college race, Carson completed the 5K course with a time of 16:19.87, which was the top time among all junior college runners at the meet. Carson, an El Dorado native, finished 36 seconds behind Southwestern's Bryce Grahn (15:43.04).

"I was really proud of Cale," said Butler head cross country coach Dustin Mettler. "He went out with the lead and stayed up front. He put out the effort and it paid off."

Carson felt the race was a good tune-up before the Grizzlies run an 8K race in two weeks.

"The 5K was good and I'm kind of glad we ran that first to get a taste of what college running is like," Carson said. "I could have finished a little bit harder and maybe place a little bit better."

After Carson, Butler had three freshmen runners - Luke Jaramillo (17:58.92, 25th), Danny Madrid (18:00.82, 26th) and Agerian Jackson (18:12.43, 28th) - finish within 15 seconds of each other. Phillip Armbrister finished 34th overall with a time of 19:00.35.

Butler finished fourth overall in team scoring with 89 points, while Cowley won the event with 30 points. The Tigers had all top five runners finish in the top 10.

"It was a right step in the right direction," Mettler said of Butler's performance. "We've got a couple injuries, so we're kind of going through that, but we'll get there."

The Grizzlies will return to action in two weeks on Sept. 15 at the Missouri Southern Invite in Joplin, Mo.