After winning its fourth Great American Conference (GAC) title on Oct. 24 with a perfect score of 15 points, the women’s cross-country team has received its first national ranking of the season, coming in at No. 22 in the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches’ Association Poll.
GAC Runner of the Year senior Ewa Zamborowska led the Lady Bisons with a first-place finish and a record-setting 5K time of 16 minutes, 44.75 seconds, the fastest time ever run by a woman in the GAC at any race. Senior Kelsey Taylor came in second on the team, and head coach Steve Guymon was named GAC Coach of the Year at the meet.
Guymon said that the honor of being named coach of the year is entirely attributed to the women on the team.
“They are an amazing group of ladies,” Guymon said. “They’re the kind of team who makes a coach look better than he really is.”
The men’s team saw similar success at the GAC championship, finishing second for the fourth year in a row.
Junior Lucas Goodspeed finished first for the men’s team, coming in third place overall, 15 seconds ahead of senior Russell Chase. Goodspeed said that the goal every year is to win the GAC meet, and this year was no different.
“It may not have been reflected in the results, but we came awfully close to winning that race,” Goodspeed said.
The next race for both teams will be the NCAA Central Region Championships in Joplin, Missouri. Goodspeed said the goal is to place in the top five as a team.
“The goal of these next two weeks … is to wrap up our training and ensure that we are ready to roll at the regional championships,” Goodspeed said.
On the other side, Guymon said that if the women keep going the way they have been the past few weeks, they are capable of winning the whole thing.
“If they run the way they’ve been running, they can win,” Guymon said.
Both teams will run at the NCAA Central Region Championships on Nov. 7.
