PCC XC SOLID IN SEASON OPENER AT COWLEY

The Pratt Community College Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams started their season off Friday, August 27, with a solid opening meet at Camp Quaker Haven in Cowley County. Both the PCC Men and Women are currently running with limited numbers, but should have five runners by the time Region VI rolls around in early November.
 
Running a short course, the PCC women impressed their coach in the season opener. They were lead by local product, Pratt freshman Elena Botello. Botello completed the two mile course in a time of 14:40.77, placing 32nd out of 51 total runners. Not far behind Botello was another freshman Nikki Pyeatt from Mulvane, Kansas. Pyeatt’s time was 15:13.44 placing her 38th.
 
"I think those two young ladies might have surprised themselves a little," said Coach Hall. "I’ve been telling them, have fun, work hard and you will be just fine. I think they were having a hard time believing me until today. I’m excited for the rest of the season. They have a chance to help us get the girls program rolling again!"
 
In the boy’s race, also a shorter course than normal, a 5k race, Carlos Vargas a freshman from Overland Park, Kansas led the way placing 44th in a time of 18:32.25. Following closely behind most of the race were Josh Hager, freshman from Council Grove, Kansas and Sage Boman, a freshman from nearby Haviland, Kansas. Hager and Boman finished 47th and 51st respectively, traversing the course in 18:58.48 and 19:10.03. Rounding out the PCC runners on the day was freshman Nathan Guyette from Greensburg, Kansas. Guyette, an 800m specialist in track getting his first taste of cross country completed the course in 20:03.26 placing 58th in the 63 man field.
 
"Overall, I’m very encouraged so far," Coach Hall said. "We didn’t run great today. Made some freshman mistakes, but we are extremely talented, and to put it simply, we are out of shape. When you’re out of shape, you can’t be as aggressive as our boys were in the early stages of the race. So as our training progresses and we pick up the nuances of being collegiate runners, we will only get better."
 
Pratt Community College Cross Country teams will be off until Friday, September 10, when they travel to Lake Afton, just South of Goddard, Kansas for the Friends University Invitational. Women’s race is at 6 p.m. and the Men’s race is at 6:45 p.m.