TULSA, Okla. (GoNeosho.com) – The Men’s and Women’s XC teams traveled to Tulsa Oklahoma last Thursday night for the Rogers State University Distance After Dark Cross Country Meet. The Panthers shined in this meet. It was the first time for the season for the team to essentially be at full strength. It also came on the heals of both programs earning votes in the NJCAA D1 Cross Country Preseason Rankings.
The women kicked things off at the twilight meet for the Panthers running the 5k, Wendy Komane, Barbara Gurrola, and Melania Turaga all 3 freshman lead the way for the team finishing in 21:45, 21:58, and 22:02 respectively. All 3 are now among the best in Neosho County Community College history moving into the top 20 all time with Wendy (10th), Barbara (13th), and Melania (14th) All-time for the Panthers. The women’s team broke the 23 min team time barrier running an average of 22:55 which makes them the second best team in Neosho County History in terms of team time only trailing the 2022 women’s team who finished in the top 25 Nationally that year.
The men were once again lead by sophomore Tristan Hickman in a massive 4 mile personal best running 22:31, not far behind him were a pair of freshman Noah Laird and Jaden Perry who came through in 23:16 and 23:37 respectively. The men averaged a team time of 24:06 for the 4 mile race which was just 27 seconds off the team time the men’s team set a year earlier in the 4 mile distance. That 2023 team finished 22nd at the National Championships.
Following the Twilight competition Head XC/T&F Coach Trey Bruton had the following to say of the day and outlook on the season, “It was a great night to be a Panther, we were all much improved on the night and had a ton of personal best. It is exciting about how much progress both teams have shown in just 2 weeks time period, and how we have closed the gap on some of the most successful teams in Neosho County history. I keep telling our team we might not be as talented as some of the teams in the past but that if they keep working hard we really do have the potential to still do better than those teams. Keep an eye on just how far this team gets by the end of the season!!!”
