William Paronto
Student Sports Media
The Grizzlies cross-country team is coming off a regional competition that is setting the stage for their final race of the season. Overall, both the women and men had good stats at the El Dorado course. Despite all the changes, they had to make throughout the season because of the pandemic, they are doing very well. The team has been able to compete in each one of their races this year, and their final race will take place in later November in Iowa for the national championship. The Grizzlies were able to host the meet even after it was delayed two days because of snowy weather.
In the women’s 5K race, the top finisher for the Grizzlies was Zadie St. Louis who finished fourth place with a time of 19:15.77. A top five finish helped the women’s team in the final scores. Coming in second for the women’s team was Sylvia Korir who finished in 26th place with a time of 20:59.80. Just four spots behind Korir was Stephany Lechuga who finished in 30th place with a time of 21:09.24. Following Lechuga was Emily Hankins who placed 39th with a time of 21:47.67. Next up was Leyni Gomez who came in 50th place with a time of 23:08.04. The last runner for the women’s team was Ann Dangha who finished in 63rd place with a time of 25:13.78. The women’s team scored 134 points and finished sixth place overall behind Hutchinson Community College.
In the men’s 8K race, the top runner was Freshman Obadia Tanui who finished in seventh place with a time of 25:36.91. Tanui had a stellar performance against many competitive runners in the top 10. His time was able to get the Grizzlies a good finish in the final team standings at fifth. In second place for the Grizzlies was sophomore Tarik Xavier who finished in 16th place with a time of 26:32.64. Xavier was just shy of a top 15th finish. Up next for the Grizzly men were freshmen Daniel Birchell and Issa Amfa who finished two seconds apart with times of 27:33.96 and 27:35.84, respectively. After those two, sophomore Juan Tovar finished in 52nd place with a time of 29:04.12. Just five spots behind Tovar was sophomore Maquire Sole who finished in 57th place with a time of 29:20.17. The final runner for the men’s team was Luis Manqueros who finished in 69th place with a time of 30:12.87. The men’s team scored 124 points and finished 5th place behind Allen Community College.
Nearing the end of the season, the Grizzly cross country teams will look to finish the year with a win in their final race. The Butler Grizzlies will compete in the NJCAA National Championships at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. The race will be held on Saturday, Nov. 14.