Rangers finish 20th out of 24 teams at Greeno-Dirksen Invitational

Sep 16 | By: Caty Llamas, Athletics Graduate Assistant

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Regis University men's cross country team traveled to the midwest on Saturday to run in the Greeno-Dirksen Cross Country Invitational.

"The men executed really well today and we improved a lot from our first race which is really exciting to see," said Regis cross country head coach Evan Verbal. "We had multiple personal bests and I think we were the best team in the second half of the race and we beat 100s of people collectively as a team. I was encouraged and there is definitely a lot of room to grow but it was nice to beat a few teams out here in the midwest."

The Rangers finished 20th out of 24 teams with graduate student Wyatt Farace crossing the finish line first for the Rangers in a time of 26 minutes, 46.28 seconds and placing 88th overall.

"Wyatt ran with Judson [Ogle] and they worked together and I think that helped him pace his race really well. He had a really great last mile and a half and passed lots of people," said Verbal. "It was a great race for him and a huge improvement from his first competition."

Senior Judd Ogle finished second for the Rangers in a time of 26:57.73, placing 101st overall and running a new personal best. Ogle's previous best time in the 8000m was 27:02.5 at the Highlander Invitational on Oct. 15, 2022.

"Judd did great, he ran a personal best. He beat his last year's time on not an easy course. Even though we weren't at altitude, it was still a hilly course. Those two just worked really well together and we just looked like a team today."

Rounding out the six runners for the Rangers was freshman Demetrious Brown with a time of 29:30.20 placing 217th, as well as William Oakes, John Murphy, and Aaron Bennett with times of 30:03.5 (227), 30:16.18 (233), and 31:06.28 (245) respectively.

The men's placement of 20 out of 24 teams marks the first team Regis has beaten a team at a cross country meet since the 2019 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships where Regis placed 26 out of 27 teams.

"It's been a handful of years since the men have come away from a meet beating a few teams," said Verbal. "We accomplished that today which is a great stepping stone for us."

Up Next: The Rangers return to the rocky mountain region to compete in the Ted Castaneda Classic in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sept. 30.

"We will be at the same park as our first race so I'd love to just go in and see people run better times than our first meet. We want to take a couple of teams from the mountain area."

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories