COLUMBIA, Mo. – Wichita State's Sarah Bertry and Yared Kidane recorded top-75 finishes in a fields of over 300 at the Gans Creek Classic Friday morning in Columbia, Mo.
 
The Shocker men steadily moved up as a team throughout the race to place 19^th of 37 teams, and the women placed 20^th out of 38 teams. Nationally-ranked Stanford swept the team titles with 31 points in the men's competition and 44 points for the women.
 
"Races like this with top-level competition from around the United States are usually a slap in the face because they're so tough," head coach Kirk Hunter said. "But they're good for us, especially this time of year, because we have time to learn from what we did today and use it to get better."
 
Berty, a senior from France recorded the best Shocker finish of the day, taking 59^th out of 329 athletes with a 22-second personal-best 6K time of 21:13.9.
 
"I was very happy with how Sarah ran her race," Hunter said. "She just consistently moved up the entire race, which is exactly what we wanted to do, and she showed she's a contender to be an all-conference girl."
 
Kidane, a redshirt-junior from Sweden, clocked a personal-best 8K time of 24:21.1 to finish 68^th out of 320 athletes.
 
"The first half of his race, he wasn't in it, but once he got going, he looked spectacular," Hunter said. "Once he figures things out, he's going to be a major threat, not just in middle distance track and field, but in cross country."
 
Cesar Ramirez was the second Shocker across the line in the men's race, finishing 109^th with a time of 24:40.8. Ian Schram and Jonah Allison battled it out on the home stretch with Schram winning the kick contest to take 138^th in 24:52.0 and Allison finishing 140^th in 24:52.2. Colin Graham rounded out the top five with a time of 25:00.2 to take 153^rd.
 
Miranda Dick was the second-fastest Shocker in the women's 6K race in her season debut, running 21:44.1 to finish 113^th, and Jenna Muma (143^rd; 22:00.4), Isabelle Hartnett (165^th; 22:12.8), and Faith Ekart (168^th; 22:14.7) filled the final scoring spots for Wichita State.
 
The Shockers return to the course Friday, Oct. 18 for the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Ill., where the team will get a preview of the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional course.
 
"Over the next three weeks, our training cycle will get them ready for Bradley," Hunter said. "We will bring more passion and some fire to the meet, and we can take a huge step forward, which will be a momentum builder taking us into conference and regionals."

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MEN'S RESULTS - 19th of 36 / 569 points
DI 8K Race

68	Yared Kidane	24:21.1
109	Cesar Ramirez	24:40.8
138	Ian Schram	24:52.0
140	Jonah Allison	24:52.2
153	Colin Graham	25:00.2
183	Erik Enriquez	25:15.1
213	Riley Vandaveer	25:31.8
236	Aidan Reyna	25:44.6
248	Landen O'Neill	25:53.6
--	Adrian Diaz-Lopez	DNF

Open 8K Race

29	Jacob Meyers*	24:57.5
120	Bennett Meoli	25:58.3
211	Ian Hunter	26:48.5

*competed unattached

WOMEN'S RESULTS - 20th of 38 / 589 points
DI 6K Race

59	Sarah Bertry	21:13.9
114	Miranda Dick	21:44.1
144	Jenna Muma	22:00.4
166	Isabelle Hartnett	22:12.8
169	Faith Ekart	22:14.7
219	Lea Jerkovic	22:47.4
259	Kalyn Willingham	23:10.7
267	Emily See	23:15.8
303	Amanda Treptow	24:07.0

Open 6K Race

163	Farrah Miller	24:33.8
195	Cailey Freeze	24:57.7