👟 Jayhawks Close Out Regular Season at Competitive Pre-National Invitational
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up the regular season at the Pre-National Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday, with both teams representing in a competitive field.
The Pre-National Invitational marked the third meet of the season for the Jayhawks, before embarking in their postseason slate of the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma on October 29, the NCAA Midwest Regional in Iowa City, Iowa on November 12 and the NCAA Championships in Tallahassee, Florida on November 20.
The morning got started with the women’s garnet 6k, which featured some of the top talent in the country. Kansas’ Lona Latema led the charge for the Jayhawks by finishing with a personal best 6k time of 20:58.6 to place 80th overall. Latema was followed by teammates Sommer Herner in 21:13.3 in 101st and Avyrl Johnson in 2:37.1 in 134th.
Following the women’s garnet 6k, the Kansas men took to Apalachee Regional Park for the open 8k race. For the second-straight meet, Kansas junior Jake Ralston led the Jayhawks by placing 45h in 25:11.8, followed by sophomore Chandler Gibbens in 55th in 25:29.4. As a team, the Kansas men finished ninth out of 31 teams in the open race.
The Jayhawks will be back in action in two weeks when they compete in the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma on October 29.
