WICHITA, Kan. --  Wichita State's men and women won the 6K and 4K Runs, respectively, at the 66th annual J.K. Gold Classic at the R.A.F.T. Golf Course near Augusta Saturday morning.

Paul Raymond was the top Shocker and University finisher in the 6K with a time of 18:35.83, while Sidney Hirsch ran the women's 4K in 13:55.58 as the top Shocker women's finisher. Hirsch finished third in the University race behind two Kansas State runners.

The University races were scored as duel with Wichita State's men out-scoring Kansas State 15-50, and Oral Roberts, 15-50. Kansas State out-scored ORU, 22-39.

Wichita State cross country head coach Kirk Hunter was excited about the two teams' overall performances on Saturday, and the way the men's team ran as a pack.

"We were really excited about the performances of our student-athletes and the way they ran," Hunter said. "Both of our men and women set a lot of personal records because of the weather along with the course being in great condition, so it was a fun meet in that regard.

"On the men's side, we did a great job of packing, and that's really where we'll be successful this year. I was really happy with the way they performed, and on top of that, we didn't run two of our top guys who ran unattached so that should give us a lot of depth going forward."

On the women's side, WSU out-scored Kansas State, 28-29, and ORU, 15-50. KSU defeated the Golden Eagles, 16-47.

Hunter was very pleased with the level at which the women's team ran.

"We ran everyone on the women's side and our top seven runners did a great job to minimize the gap between one another," Hunter said. "There was just 30 seconds between our top seven runners, which is very strong. Our top runners also ran at a very high level.

"We're excited about where we started out because this was our season opener and the first true test to start the season. We think have two great teams and are hoping to stay healthy and strong all the way to the Missouri Valley Conference meet."

The overall women's 4K winner was Kansas State's Morgan Wedekind, who ran the course in 13:44.00, while the men's overall winner was Wichita State's unattached Chris Burnett, who ran the 6K in 18:05.74. 

The Shockers return to action when they compete at the Woody Greeno Invitational on September 20 at the Pioneers Park in Lincoln, Neb. See the attached .pdfs for all results and team scores, and view the attached video for comments from Coach Hunter.

-WICHITA STATE-