In a very competitive meet that consisted of runners on all divisions and multiple heats, the Butler women's Cross-Country team finished 27th out of 351 teams in the Women's 5K Saturday at the Chili pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, AR.
Led by sophomore Michelle Sanchez, the Grizzlies posted a team score of 652 finishing 27th overall. Sanchez, who finished 14th overall out of 351 runners, ran a time of 18:40.2.
"Michelle ran really well again. She is our top girl and that is what we have come to expect of her," said head coach Dustin Mettler.
Butler's number two runner, Zadie St. Louis, got her feet caught up with some other runners in a pack which caused her to fall to the ground and unable to get back to her feet. The fall was significant enough that she had to drop out of the race and would not finish.
"It was really hard to watch that happen to Zadie," commented Mettler, "and on top of that, being the good teammate she is, Stephany Lechuga stopped to help Zadie and lost a lot of ground in the race causing her to finish much slower than expected."
Shanique Masters was the next best finisher for Butler coming in 123rd with a time of 20:37.4 and she was followed closely by Stephany Lechuga who finished 126th coming in at 20:38.8. Other finishers were Hilda Kipruto who came in 199th with a time of 21:45.4 and Victoria Buran finishing 317th running a 24:58.7.
"The ladies competed hard. As narrow as the course was it is hard to compete if you didn't get out front early in the race," said Mettler.
Women's Results- HERE
The men did not post a team score as they only raced three guys at the meet. Over the last few weeks, the Grizzlies men's team has sustained some injuries that forced them to run a shortened squad on Saturday.
"We only ran three guys this weekend due to injuries that we currently have," mentioned Mettler. "Of the guys that ran, two set new personal bests and I am very proud of that."
Tarik Xavier led Butler with a 65th place finish out of 346 runners in the Men's 8K running a 27:09.3. Anton Reeves came in 126th running a 28:00.5 while Luis Manqueros finished 227th with a 8K time of 29:58.7.
"Overall we had good performances on the day but we still have a lot of work to do," said Mettler. "We need to keep training, stay healthy and get ready for our next meet."
Men's Results- HERE
The Grizzlies race at the Fort Hays Tiger Open next Saturday, October 12 in Victoria, KS starting at 9:00am. They will host their home meet the following Friday as Butler hosts the Ollie Isom Invitational on Friday, October 19th on the newly created course at the El Dorado Legions Disc Golf Course. The women race a 5K at 4:00pm followed by a Men's 5K at 4:45pm.
