ABILENE - Sophomore
Grace White and junior
Kevin Kipkosgei were Abilene Christian's lead runners during Saturday night's Purple vs. Black Intraquad Race at the Wildcats' home course along EN 10th street.
White of Team Purple finished first of eight women's runners with a 4K time of 14:11.55. Her teammate and junior
Sarah Wagler was second in 15:08.05 and senior
Briahna Gerlach of Team Black claimed third place in 15:20.42. Purple edged Black in the team standings, 16-20.
"Grace had a good indoor track season, was coming along, and I knew coming back she was fit and had a chance to win tonight," said cross country coach
Jarvis Jelen. "It wasn't too surprising, but she looked strong and focused even while running alone. I was really happy with her performance."
Kipkosgei of Team Black clocked a 6K time of 18:51.72 to lead a field of 14 men. Fellow Kenyan and sophomore
Denis Lagat was second with a time of 19:23.11 to lead team purple. Black and Purple alternated the top four positions but Black took the lead for good when freshman
Cooper Goggans and junior
Colton Gates placed fifth and sixth with respective times of 20:02.44 and 20:12.03. Finishing just ahead of them were junior
Levi Chambers (19:34.05) and transfer
Maxwel Kiplagat (19:57.85).
Black won the race, 23-33.
"Things played out mostly how I expected with the men's race," said Jelen. "I was extremely happy with their focus and ability to withstand adversity since our plans (for tonight's race) changed at the last moment. They still came out and did exactly what they needed to do. They were aggressive from the start, which is good because they had nothing to lose and I was able to see where they're at."
The Wildcats return to action for another 7 p.m. home twilight meet on Friday, Sept. 18 vs. Texas Tech, Baylor and UTEP.
