Wildcats impress in second meet of season

Saturday, September 17

Nacogdoches, Texas

Abilene Christian

SFA Lumberjack Collegiate Invitational

Photo by: Cassie Kelley

9/17/2022 3:40:00 PM | Cross Country

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Abilene Christian cross country teams had a tremendous showing on Saturday, as seven Wildcat runners landed in the top ten at the SFA Lumberjack Invitational. Irene Rono came away with her second consecutive individual win, while Levi Chambers picked up third place to pace the ACU men.

"Both the men and women had a solid day, and Irene and Levi were both excellent number ones for us," head coach Jarvis Jelen said. "The men are a lot further along than this point last year and progressed well from the first meet to today, and the women did a great job and will only get better as they continue to gain experience."

Rono's first-place time of 15:53 helped the Purple and White come away with the team win on the women's side, while teammates Kate Williams (17:17, 3rd place) and Bella Evans (17:20, 4th place) gave ACU three of the top four. Peyton Bornstein (17:35) finished her day in seventh, while Prudence Kiyeng (17:47) rounded out the top ten.

The ACU men earned a third-place finish as a team, led by Chambers' time of 24:17. Neal Helgerson (24:50) followed in ninth, while Kevin Castruita (25:41, T-19th), Jacob Russell (25:41, T-19th) and O'Brien Verdin (25:43, 22nd) rounded out ACU's top five.

Abilene Christian returns to the course in two weeks, when they visit Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chile Pepper XC Festival.

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