On Oct. 10, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams both won the 2015 University of the Ozarks Invitational. The men’s team, currently ranked No. 9 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA), won with 17 points and placed five runners in the top seven. The women’s team, ranked at No. 5 in the USTFCCCA, won with 32 points and placed five runners in the top 10.
Senior Russell Chase set a record time on the 8K run with a finishing time of 25 minutes, 38.5 seconds. Chase said that, while his time was decent at best, the activity is more about team than individual.
“My teammates agreed that if we were all together at the front, then they would let me win because I was the senior,” Chase said.
Chase said this was his first personal cross-country victory.
“My teammates showed me that they had respect for me as a leader,” Chase said. “It was great to see that we can run decent times in the 8K while not working too hard.”
Senior Tammy Kim was the top finisher in the women’s races, finishing first overall in the 5K. Kim said that, going into the meet, she had a feeling the team was going to win it.
“I feel that I’m not really a cross-country runner, because I love track, but I really do enjoy cross country, too,” Kim said. “It’s the long distance and mileage that gets to me. So coming in first for Harding really gives me more confidence and shows what hard work I have put in this season.”
Kim said that, as a team, they now have more confidence to run with their top runners, who were not present at the meet.
“I knew that even without our top five runners, we still had a good group of girls to win the meet,” Kim said. “(Head) coach (Steve) Guymon can see the potential in all of us, and he always tells me that I can go up with the top girls to compete for conference and get to nationals.”
The next meet for both teams will be the Great American Conference Championship in Monticello, Arkansas, on Oct. 24.
