Broncbusters post more personal bests at Fort Hays State
By Mike Pilosof
Hays, KS-Dennis Mutai continued his fantastic freshman campaign on Saturday, finishing second at the Fort Hays State Tiger Open while his team took eighth. The women came in 11th with Valentine Lagat finishing eighth.
Men's recap
Mutai took second place (out of 196 runners) for the third straight meet, clocking a time of 23:44.3. It was a new personal best, and he became the first Broncbuster in school history to go sub 24:00 in the 8k. Mutai's performance is also one of the fastest times in the nation this season.
Meantime, Kelvin Cheriuyot took 12th with a new personal best time of 24:47.9, roughly a one-minute improvement from his previous best time. He also moved into fourth on the all-time list in the 8k.
Angel Ayala posted a PR of 26:37.9; good for 37th, Elisha Handsaker clocked a time of 28:20.7, and Jose "Froy" Ruiz finished at 28:23.6.
Women's recap
Lagat posted the second fasted time in school history (19:09.9), which was also a personal best while teammate Shareen Cheruiyot, who has been Emmett Statzer's most consistent runner all season, took 22nd with a time of 19:46, the second-best mark of her career.
Elsewhere, Jania Don Juan impressed with a new personal best 21:12.5, an improvement of nearly 40 seconds. She finished 58th. Cielo Garcia was 74th (22:04), Taylor Thorp clocked in at 24:18, and Andrea Serrano, Rebecca Potts, and Meagan Burkhart all tallied personal-best times. Serrano (24:44.3, 115th), Potts (25:09.2, 121st), and Burkhart (25:43.0, 125th).
Garden City is off this week and travels to Winfield on Saturday, Oct. 23 for the Southwestern College Invite.