Pratt Natives Lead Beaver Cross Country at Friends

Pratt Community College Beaver Cross Country competed in its second race of the season on Sat., Sept. 10. The Beavers toed the line at the Wild Wind Festival hosted by Friends University at the Kansas Coliseum. The women’s team was led by two Pratt natives, Elena Botello and Vicky Ibarra. Both girls ran very good times considering this was their first five kilometer race of the season.
 
Botello finished 24 out of 82 runners in a time of 21:04, which is only twelve seconds off of her personal best. She was also the second junior college runner to cross the line. Ibarra, running the first five kilometer race of her collegiate career came across the line in 44 place running a time of 22:45. The two Pratt natives were followed by sophomore Nikki Pyeatt in 49, freshman Danielle Wendler in 67, and freshman Bre Tallant in 80. There were no official team scores kept.
 
Coach Cyrus Hall likes what he’s seen from his girl’s squad so far this season.
 
“I’m really excited for our girl’s team,” coach Hall said. “Elena came out firing on all cylinders today. Vicky and Nikki both ran well together. And Bre and Danielle improved from last week. The scary thing for us is we still aren’t really even in shape. So here in the next few weeks, we’ve got a chance to really drop our times and push for a spot in the NJCAA national rankings.”
 
On the boy’s side, PCC is still without a couple of runners, so Coach Hall ran his three healthy runners. Leading the way was freshman Bernardo Miranda finishing the five mile course in 77 place out of 102 runners with a time of 31:55. Following closely behind Miranda was freshman Blake Thompson in 79 place at a 32:16. Rounding out the Beaver threesome was Sage Boman in 94 place running a 34:57.
 
Coach Hall said he knows the boys have a lot of work to do, but seems to think they are up to the task.
 
“The boys are farther behind than the girls,” Hall said. “They didn’t get the type of summer training the girls did. But they are working hard and getting better. Bernardo and Blake have been lights out at practice. We just have to carry that over to the meets. And Blake really ran about ten times better this week than he did last week.”
 
The Beavers are on the road again this weekend at the Blue Dragon Invitational in Hutchinson. The meet will be held at Rice Park in northwest Hutchinson, with the women starting at 10 a.m. and the men starting at 10:45 a.m. on Sat., Sept. 17.
 
Women’s 5k results:
Elena Botello                    21:04 24th
Vicky Ibarra                     22:45 44th
Nikki Pyeatt                     23:08 49th
Danielle Wendler              24:56 67th
Bre Tallant                       28:13 80th
 
Men’s 8k results:
Bernardo Miranda            31:55 77th
Blake Thompson              32:16 79th
Sage Boman                     34:57 94th