Rodgers Rotich took first in the Men's 8K at the Ollie Isom Invitational, Victor Jumo took third, and the Grizzly men took second place as a team as they hosted the meet in El Dorado on Friday.
Rotich won the race, his third win of the season, placing first with a time of 23:57.32. Jumo was three minutes behind and placed third with a time of 26:15.06. Andrew Leck and Wail Bourahli also finished well, as Leck came in at 11th with a time of 27:32.49 while Bourahli was close behind in 16th with a time of 27:45.63. The Grizzly men had a total time of 2:14:18.71 and placed just behind the Cowley Tigers who won the meet.
The Grizzly women also ran a 5K race at the Ollie Friday morning, and Heidi Grimmett led the Grizzlies in the race, placing 12th with a time of 20:46.03. Faith Jepkirui and Josie Ware were close behind as they placed 17th and 20th respectively. Jepkirui finished with a time of 21:13.64 while Ware came in at 21:16.29. Butler's total time of 1:47:47.09 was good enough for fourth place in the invitational. It was Cloud County who won the 5K with a time of 1:41:02.
Next up for the Grizzlies will be the postseason, as they head to the Region Cross Country championships in two weeks time, on October 28th at Hutchinson, before the NJCAA Cross Country championships two weeks later in Tallahassee, FL.
