The Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams finished seventh and sixth at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Normal, Ill. on Saturday.
The teams needed a top-two finish to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 25. Iowa and Minnesota took the honors for the men. Big 12 conference rival Missouri won the women’s race and Northwestern finished second.
Although neither team will likely receive an at-large bid to the National Championships, the teams are pleased with the progress they have made over the last few seasons.
“I know everyone is proud of what we were able to do as a team this year,” junior Paige Higgins said. “This was the best team we’ve had with the new coaches.”
The sixth place finish by the women was the best since 1994 when Kansas won the regional title. The men’s seventh place finish is the best since 1996.
“We are definitely excited about our placing in the meet,” coach Stanley Redwine said. “We are constantly getting better and better each meet and each year.”
Senior Mark Menefee finished eighth overall and may get a bid to the NCAA meet. The top four finishers from non-qualifying teams will be running at the National Tournament. Menefee will find out this week if his season will continue.
“I’ll be disappointed if that was my last race,” Menefee said. “Going into the race I was running with the intention to win. I went out too fast and I should have waited in the pack, but I thought everyone went out too slow.”
Menefee led the race for the first four miles of the race but fell off the pace after that.
Sophomore Chris Jones and freshman Cameron Schwehr finished second and third for Kansas. They crossed the line 15th and 26th overall. Juniors Brian Raggett and Joshy Madathil finished out Kansas’scoring five.
Higgins finished first for Kansas in the women’s race. This was the first time she led the team this year. Sophomore Megan Manthe and freshman Angela Pichardo finished second and third for Kansas, 38th and 42nd overall. Juniors Laura Lavoie and Lauren Brownrigg rounded out the team’s top five finishers.
