Injury sets Mavericks back some athletes at Tabor College Invitational

HILLSBORO, Kan. - The Northwest Kansas Technical College Cross Country Team competed in their third meet of the season near Hillsboro, KS. The Mavericks attended the Tabor College Invitational at the Marion County Reservoir. The Mavericks have been plagued by illness and injury so only two men competed. They were: Jameslee Banning from Burden, KS (first year Electrical Technology), and Patrick Brown from Freeport, Bahamas (first year Engineering Technology).

This meet was comparable to the "Romp at the Ridge" two weeks ago as far as skill level. Competition was primarily made up of NAIA schools with quality junior and senior athletes. It was a fairy flat course made challenging with long, thick grass on the main loop, and loose rock on the narrow nature trail section of the course. There were multiple reports of athletes slipping on the trail portion, as well as some athletes running into trees and branches that covered the trail. We saw at least one near miss as runners had to cross each other's path at least once to get from the main loop to the nature trail section of the course.

There were 70 finishers for the College Men's Division, and 67 finishers in the College Women's Division. The winning time for the 8 kilometer race was 26:40.81 by an athlete from Tabor College. Friends University was the Men's Division winner. The 5k Women's race was won in a time of 20:02.22 by an athlete from McPherson College. Friends University, again, claimed the Women's Title.

The lead runner for Northwest Tech was Jameslee Banning, finishing the 8k course 59th in a time of 33:46.66. This was more than a 6 second improvement for him. Banning was happy to improve his time, especially since he rolled his ankle after the first mile check point. His first mile was 5:50, and he appeared very comfortable at that pace. Unfortunately, Banning was the lone finisher for the Mavericks as the other Tech athlete to begin the race, Patrick Brown, reinjured an old ankle injury. Brown has been working very hard in practice and was looking forward to a significant improvement in his time and placing at this meet. His time at the 1 mile check point was likely to be about 6:30; a great first mile pace for him. Unfortunately the untimely injury forced him to drop out of the race.