The men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up the regular season in style at the University of the Ozarks Invitational in Clarksville, Arkansas on Oct. 10, both earning easy wins.
The men’s team, led by junior Russell Chase, swept the top four and placed five runners in the top seven. Freshman Camden Barrett finished 2nd, followed by junior Lucas Goodspeed and freshman Larry Lopez.
Barrett, who earlier this season became the first freshman Bison to win a meet since 2008, said he felt good about how well the team executed.
“We wanted to run together as a pack for as long as we could and then on the last mile crank it,” Barrett said. “We tried to give (Chase) the opportunity to win and we executed that perfectly.”
As a freshman, Barrett has already been named Great American Conference (GAC) Runner of the Week and has not finished below 3rd among Bison runners in any meet. He said his biggest key so far has been hard work.
“Coming to college, I didn’t really know what to expect because it was totally different, but the same thing still applies: hard work,” Barrett said. “The coaches and the team have done a great job of pushing me to be successful, but hard work is the main thing.”
Senior Tammy Kim led the women’s team, who also placed five runners in the top 10. According to Kim, the team came in knowing it was going to be a small meet, and that they would have a good shot to win.
“We wanted to do our best to stay together and win it,” Kim said. “We had a good group of girls toward the front that ran hard.”
According to Kim, she and sophomore Kirstie Smith, who both finished in the top 5, worked hard to stay together and were able to push each other throughout the race.
Having finished the regular season, both teams now direct their focus towards the GAC Championship, which will take place Oct. 24, at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Kim said the Lady Bisons have specific goals heading in to the conference championship.
“For conference we are focusing on Oklahoma Baptist University because we were able to see them at the Chili Pepper Festival,” Kim said. “They were able to beat us and now we’re aware of how competitive it will be.”
According to Barrett, the men have high aspirations for the postseason as they seek to return to the Division II National Championship for the first time since 2010. However, Barrett said they want to take it one step at a time.
“Right now we want to focus on going to conference and winning, and then we hopefully we will be able to finish top 3 at regionals,” Barrett said. “After that, we can worry about nationals.”
