Saturday, September 16
Lincoln, Neb.
9 a.m.
Kansas State University
at
Greeno/Dirksen Invite
K-State Poised Heading into Greeno/Dirksen Invitational
Sep 13, 2017 | Cross Country
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The K-State men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete in their second meet of the 2017 campaign when they travel to the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday.
The meet is cohosted by Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan and will kick off with the women beginning at 10 a.m. followed by the men at 10:45 a.m., the race will take place at Pioneer Park located at 3201 S. Coddington Avenue.
The women's team is coming off a strong showing in their first meet at the J.K. Gold Invitational, in which, the squad placed second overall. Leading the pack of Wildcats was sophomore Sydney Collins, who finished ninth overall with a time of 14:26, closely followed by junior Emma Wren (10th, 14:27), freshman Cara Melgares (12th, 14:29) and senior Kayla Doll (13th, 14:30).
The focus for head coach Ryun Godfrey is for the young squad to race with cohesiveness as a team, as Saturday's lineup is comprised of five underclassmen, including three freshmen.
"I think it's important for the team to stick together in these meets," Coach Godfrey said. "If our team can stick together and improve their times throughout the season, I think we will be in good shape."
On the men's side, the team is looking to build on a third-place performance at the J.K. Gold Invitational that was led by a pack of seniors, including Colton Donahue (18th, 19:12), Brett Bachman (19th, 19:13) and Jeff Bachman (26th, 19:21).
Much like the women's focus, Godfrey stressed the importance of sticking to a pack, as the top seven Wildcats finished within 10 seconds of each other in their first meet of the season. Godfrey hopes the team can replicate the teamwork shown in the first meet and build on their performances as they get deeper into the season.
"My hope is that we can stay together like we did at Wichita State," Godfrey said. "I think we can put our seven guys within a second of each other. That's really the goal to stay together the entire race and get faster throughout the season."
Pioneer Park features a 6k race for the women and an 8k race for the men. The course weaves through Pioneer Park and features a series of hills, before finishing near the start of the course. K-State has competed at Pioneer Park in the past, dating back to 1993 and as recently as 2016. Beverly Ramos (21:02) holds the K-State 6k women's course record set in 2008, while Brandon Jessop recorded the fastest men's 8k time of 24:55 at the course in 1998.
Saturday's meet marks the second of the season for K-State, as the Wildcats move through their 2017 schedule. Following Saturday's meet, the teams travel to the Jamboree Invite on September 30 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
A complete recap and results of the J.K. Gold Invitational can be found here. For more information on the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational, check out the meet website here.
For the latest on K-State cross country, follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter using the hashtag #KStateXC or on the team's Facebook page.
The meet is cohosted by Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan and will kick off with the women beginning at 10 a.m. followed by the men at 10:45 a.m., the race will take place at Pioneer Park located at 3201 S. Coddington Avenue.
The women's team is coming off a strong showing in their first meet at the J.K. Gold Invitational, in which, the squad placed second overall. Leading the pack of Wildcats was sophomore Sydney Collins, who finished ninth overall with a time of 14:26, closely followed by junior Emma Wren (10th, 14:27), freshman Cara Melgares (12th, 14:29) and senior Kayla Doll (13th, 14:30).
The focus for head coach Ryun Godfrey is for the young squad to race with cohesiveness as a team, as Saturday's lineup is comprised of five underclassmen, including three freshmen.
"I think it's important for the team to stick together in these meets," Coach Godfrey said. "If our team can stick together and improve their times throughout the season, I think we will be in good shape."
On the men's side, the team is looking to build on a third-place performance at the J.K. Gold Invitational that was led by a pack of seniors, including Colton Donahue (18th, 19:12), Brett Bachman (19th, 19:13) and Jeff Bachman (26th, 19:21).
Much like the women's focus, Godfrey stressed the importance of sticking to a pack, as the top seven Wildcats finished within 10 seconds of each other in their first meet of the season. Godfrey hopes the team can replicate the teamwork shown in the first meet and build on their performances as they get deeper into the season.
"My hope is that we can stay together like we did at Wichita State," Godfrey said. "I think we can put our seven guys within a second of each other. That's really the goal to stay together the entire race and get faster throughout the season."
Pioneer Park features a 6k race for the women and an 8k race for the men. The course weaves through Pioneer Park and features a series of hills, before finishing near the start of the course. K-State has competed at Pioneer Park in the past, dating back to 1993 and as recently as 2016. Beverly Ramos (21:02) holds the K-State 6k women's course record set in 2008, while Brandon Jessop recorded the fastest men's 8k time of 24:55 at the course in 1998.
Saturday's meet marks the second of the season for K-State, as the Wildcats move through their 2017 schedule. Following Saturday's meet, the teams travel to the Jamboree Invite on September 30 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
A complete recap and results of the J.K. Gold Invitational can be found here. For more information on the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational, check out the meet website here.
For the latest on K-State cross country, follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter using the hashtag #KStateXC or on the team's Facebook page.
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