ST. JOSEPH, Mo. –
Pau Valderrama scored his second straight win as Griffon Men's Cross Country took first place at the Griffon Invite on Saturday morning at the MWSU Cross Country Course.
Running in pleasant, warm and sunny conditions, Valderrama scored his program-record second win this season with a time of 24:40.33, winning by nearly 28 seconds over teammate
Wimach Gilo, who clocked in at 25:08.11. That marks Gilo's highest finish in an NCAA cross country race. It's also the first 1-2 finish for Griffon men's cross country in program history.
MoWest was first as a team with 36 points, marking the first team win for men's XC since the SBU Bearcat Invitational in 2022. Winona State was second with 44 points.
Mason Orscheln was the third Griffon in the top 10 Saturday with a time of 26:21.68.
Logan Soedt was 15
th at 27:02.90.
Ryan Ringgenberg was right behind him at 27:21.07.
Sam Shipp finished 19
th at 27:45.65, while
Dylan Stout was 20
th at 27:47.69.
Kamden Tarlton crossed the line 23
rd at 28:09.17 in his first race.
Will Gessmann was 38
th at 29:57.83.
Levi Huber was 46
th at 33:09.60.
On the women's side, MoWest finished third out of four teams in the field.
Abby Kinney was 6
th overall with a time of 18:46.58 – just a shade off of her PR but it was the 6
th fastest time in a 5K in program history.
Meagan Smith was the next Griffon across the line in 23
rd at 20:25.25 – a new PR.
Hailey McKinney was 26
th (20:46.61),
Bailey Cutler 27
th (20:48.53),
Kaleigh Harvey 28
th (20:50.32 – PR) and
Brianna DeBord 35
th (21:53.06).
Both Griffon Cross Country teams are back in action for the MIAA championships on Saturday, October 25 at Four Oaks Golf Course in Pittsburg, Kansas.
