BU Men Finish Third at Frontier Cross Country Championship
BILLINGS, Mont. -- With the aid of a tight group of scoring runners all finishing within a minute of each other, the Bruin men ran to a third-place finish at today's Frontier Conference Cross Country Championship at Amend Park in Billings, Montana. While conditions were ideal for the earlier women's race, the men were greeted with a stiff wind, creating cold and blustery conditions over the flat multiple-loop course.
Eleven full teams competed in the first "new" Frontier Conference championship, which brought teams from the former North Star Athletic Association into the fold. NAIA sixth-ranked Rocky Mountain edged 20th-ranked Carroll to take the top two spots. Behind them, four squads battled for the third spot, separated by just fourteen points. The Bruins prevailed by edging fourth-place Montana Tech by a single point, followed closely by Dakota State, ten points behind them, and Bismarck State, three points back of DSU.
The five Bruin scorers filled places eighteen through thirty-four in the 102-runner field. Senior Jose Lara Flores led the Bruins with an 18th-place finish in 26:10.9, and the remainder of the Bruins finished in rapid succession, with freshman Jack Brown placing 21st at 26:21.8 and sophomore Xavier Mallow running 26:33.0 for 25th. Fourth and fifth scorers junior Luis Casallas Vega and freshman Cody Fikar were 32nd and 34th in 27:03.4 and 27:08.1, respectively, seeing all five finish within fifty-seven seconds of each other.
Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo and Ronald Kipyegon rounded out the top seven at 46th and 61st with times of 27:33.4 and 28:13.2. At 69th was Robbie Siford, crossing in 28:48.2, while Trey Larson ran 29:14.9 for 73rd.
Recognized for his contributions as a teammate and player-coach was Jaedon Maxfield, who received the Frontier Conference Champion of Character plaque for the Bruins. Members of this year's Frontier Conference All-Academic Cross Country team were Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo, Ronald Kipyegon, Luis Casallas Vega, and Jose Lara Flores.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "I thought the guys really rose up today, especially our fourth and fifth guys, Luis and Cody, who had missed some training time nursing injuries. That was as close to a total team effort that I've witnessed in my time here...I couldn't be prouder. Even sixth man Griffin got into the act because if he doesn't beat Montana Tech's fifth man, we don't get third. That being said, Rocky and Carroll are at the next level, and we need to improve to keep up with them. We will lose Jose and Luis to graduation, but otherwise, we're pretty young. The guys recognize the challenge. I hope they respond to it."
Today's championship race concludes the season for the Bruin men as they begin preparing for indoor track, which gets underway in December.