Wildcats Conclude Cross Country Season at NCAA Midwest Regional

PEORIA, Ill. – The Kansas State men's and women's cross country teams concluded their 2018 campaigns at the NCAA Midwest Regional, where the K-State men's team placed 17th and the women's team placed 18^that Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Illinois on Friday.

"Both of our seniors ran a strong last race, they are both really hard workers and I couldn't be prouder of them," Head Coach Ryun Godfrey said of seniors Emma Wren and Joe Gorthy. "We had a lot of good performances today and I thought we ended on a high note."

The K-State women, led byWren, scored 487 points to place 18^thoverall, the team's best placing at the meet since 2015, where they placed 16^th. Wren, running her final cross country race in a K-State uniform, capped off an impressive season with a personal best finish of 21:24.7, placing her 35^thoverall.

Also coming in with Wren, sophomore Cara Melgares set the pace early on Friday, checking in as the first Wildcat to cross the 3k mark of the race. Melgares went on to place 66^thwith a time of 21:44.5, while fellow sophomore Kassidy Johnson closely followed with a finish of 21:52.9 to place 80^th. Junior Anna Keeley neared a personal best with her finish of 22:36.7 (149^th), while redshirt sophomore Cayli Hume set a new personal best in 22:47.3 (159^th).

Following the women's race, the K-State men's team took to the starting line at Newman Golf Course. At last year's NCAA Midwest Regional, the Wildcats put together their best finish at the meet since 2004, finishing 10^thas a team.

On Friday, freshman Cooper Schroeder led the pack for K-State, crossing the halfway point of the race in 93^rdplace. During the final 5k, Schroeder moved up 25 spots to finish 68^thoverall in 32:25.8.

Prior to Friday's race, Gorthy was the only Wildcat that had competed in a collegiate 10k cross country race. On Friday, Gorthy improved upon his time from the NCAA Midwest Regional a season ago, finishing 82^ndin 32:36.4, followed by redshirt freshman Ethan Powell's finish of 32:37.6, which placed him in 83^rd.

Along with the top-three finishers for K-State, redshirt freshman Dylan Brenneman went on to place 120^thoverall in 33:18.3, followed by redshirt freshman Pierce Flanders (149^th, 33:54.3) and freshman Charlie Parrish(182^nd, 34:55.2).

In the team competition, Iowa State claimed both the men's and the women's crowns, with the Iowa State men finishing with 38 points and the women finishing with 79 points. In addition to Iowa State advancing to the NCAA Championships, the Oklahoma State women and Bradley men earned team berths to the NCAA Championship in Madison, Wisconsin on November 17.

Individually, Oklahoma State's Isai Rodriguez and Iowa's Nathan Mylenek advanced to the NCAA Championship in the men's competition, while Kansas' Sharon Lokedi and Wichita State's Winny Koskei advance out of the women's field.

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.

NCAA Midwest Regional
Newman Golf Course
Peoria, Illinois

Women's Team Finishes
1. Iowa State, 78 points; 2. Oklahoma State, 140 points; 3. Minnesota, 185 points; 4. Illinois, 203 points; 5. Northwestern, 205 points; 6. South Dakota, 217 points; 7. Kansas, 229 points; 8. Tulsa, 233 points; 9. Bradley, 236 points; 10. Wichita State, 255 points; 11. Missouri, 278 points; 12. Iowa, 343 points; 13. South Dakota State, 369 points; 14. Nebraska, 386 points; 15. Northern Illinois, 412 points; 16. Loyola, 414 points; 17. North Dakota State, 441 points; 18. Kansas State, 487 points; 19. SE Missouri, 487 points; 20. Illinois State, 542 points; 21. UMKC, 550 points; 22. Missouri State, 609 points; 23. Northern Iowa, 610 points; 24. Saint Louis, 618 points; 25. Oklahoma, 626 points; 26. North Dakota, 631 points; 27. Eastern Illinois, 675 points; 28. Illinois-Chicago, 795 points; 29. Drake, 849 points; 30. Southern Illinois, 852 points; 31. DePaul, 918 points; 32. Nebraska-Omaha, 919 points; 33. Creighton, 973 points; 33. Nebraska-Omaha, 928 points; 34. Western Illinois, 1,013 points.

Women's Top-Five Individual
1. Cailie Logue (Iowa State), 20:13.5; 2. Sharon Lokedi (Kansas), 20:23.0; 3. Winny Koskei (Wichita State), 20:23.0; 4. Aubrey Roberts (Northwestern), 20:24.0; 5. Haley Herberg (Oklahoma), 20:26.7.

K-State Women's Finishes
35. Emma Wren, 21:24.7; 66. Cara Melgares, 21:44.5; 80. Kassidy Johnson, 21:52.9; 149. Anna Keeley, 22:36.7; 159. Cayli Hume, 22:47.3.

Men's Team Finishes
1. Iowa State, 38 points; 2. Bradley, 102 points; 3. Tulsa, 107 points; 4. Oklahoma State, 124 points; 5. Minnesota, 173 points; 6. Kansas, 199 points; 7. Iowa, 249 points; 8. Nebraska, 256 points; 10. South Dakota State, 288 points; 11. Illinois, 303 points; 12. Eastern Illinois, 316 points; 13. Missouri, 330 points; 14. Saint Louis, 340 points; 15. Drake, 413 points; 16. Loyola, 458 points; 17. Kansas State, 502 points; 18. Wichita State, 515 points; 19. Northern Iowa, 549 points; 20. Oklahoma, 568 points; 21. North Dakota State, 580 points; 22. Southern Illinois, 587 points; 23. SIU Edwardsville, 620 points; 24. Illinois-Chicago, 659 points; 25. UMKC, 668 points; 26. South Dakota, 679 points; 27. SE Missouri, 805 points; 28. Creighton, 875 points; 29. DePaul, 883 points; 30. Western Illinois, 906 points; 31. North Dakota, 911 points.

Men's Top-Five Individual
1. Edwin Kurgat (Iowa State), 30:41.6; 2. Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State), 30:42.5; 3. Nathan Mylenek (Iowa State), 30:55.2; 4. George Kusche (Nebraska), 31:02.8; 5. Ashenafi Hatte (Oklahoma State), 31:03.1.

K-State Men's Finishes
68. Cooper Schroeder, 32:25.8; 82. Joe Gorthy, 32:36.4; 83. Ethan Powell, 32:37.6; 120. Dylan Brenneman, 33:18.3; 149. Pierce Flanders, 33:54.8; 182. Charlie Parrish, 34:55.7.

Wildcats Conclude Cross Country Season at NCAA Midwest Regional

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Players Mentioned

Dylan Brenneman

Pierce Flanders

Joe Gorthy

Cayli Hume

Kassidy Johnson

Anna Keeley

Cara Melgares

Charlie Parrish

Ethan Powell

Cooper Schroeder

Emma Wren