Augusta, Kan. – The Friends University Women's Cross Country Falcons took home the KCAC conference championship today at the 4 Mile Creek Resort in Augusta, Kan. It's the Falcons' first conference title since 2016 and their sixth overall in school history. 

"I am extremely proud of our ladies today as we reach our goal of becoming conference champions," said Friends head coach Jason Parr, who was named the KCAC Women's Cross Country Head Coach of the Year. "These ladies set their mind on this goal all season and we knew it wasn't going to be easy.   It was so exciting to watch them reach this goal.  I was extremely proud of how we had several girls step up big for us today.  We had one of our top runners go down after the 2K.  At this point we needed to see if would be willing to fill in the gap for Caroline Giles (FR/Minneapolis, Kan.).  We had our top five girls all finish in the top 15 today and this is always exciting to see."  

Leading the way for the Falcons was freshman Aubry Donley (FR/Lincoln, Kan. ), with a third-place overall finish (19:35.41).  Right behind Donley was Nicole Sprague (JR/Haviland, Kan.) in fourth place (19:35.53). "Nicole had one awesome race today, stepping up big for us and running strong," Parr said. "I'm proud of this effort by her."  

Miranda Tenove (SR/Olathe, Kan.) followed with a top-five finish of her own (19:35.87). "Miranda has come such a long way over these last four years to finish fifth for us today," Parr said. "Four years ago, as a freshman she finished 61st. I'm also really proud of Aileen (Gurrola) and her leadership on this team.  Her fire today was just what we needed."  Gurrola finished seventh overall, running a time of 19:44.85. Grace Garrison (SO/Clearwater, Kan. ) also stepped up big with a 13th place overall result (20.01.83).  "Her effort over the last 2K was really inspiring, moving from 25th down to a 13th place finish," Parr said. I'm really proud of her."

In her first-ever KCAC Cross Country championship race, NAIA Track & Field All-American Shelby Hundley (SR/Bern, Kan. ) put together a 21st place overall finish (20.36.38). "I'm proud of Shelby's senior leadership," Parr said. 

Rounding out the Falcons' top seven was Morgan Smith (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) (20:58.27), who is having her best cross country season for the Falcons.  Kara Zahariades (JR/Phoenix, Arizona) (21:29.84), Payton Reaves (SR/Wichita, Kan.) (21:21.30), Nicole Vick (FR/Wichita, Kan.) (21:39.99), Kayla Allen (JR/Lewiston, Maine) (21:57.51), Jolene Jensen (SO/Exira, Iowa) (24:01.70), Maren Blanka (FR/Wamego, Kan.) (24:12.23) and Moira Burgess (SO/Monmouth, Maine) (25:35.83) also ran strong today for the Falcons. 

"I want to thank our whole Falcon ladies team for their effort today," Parr said.  "It was truly a team performance."  

Friends University Women Results: http://results.tfmeetpro.com/AccuData_Timing_Service_LLC/2019_KCAC_XC_Championships/

For the Men's Falcons, they recorded a solid second-place outcome at the KCAC Championship meet for the second straight season. "I'm extremely proud of this group of guys," Parr said.   

"We have a lot of seniors that we're going to miss greatly who have made a big impact on this team and the overall program of Friends University XC/Track.   I personally want to thank Isaac Sprague (SR/Concordia, Kan. ), Reno Ferris (SR/Cheney, Kan. ), Alex Viscarra (SR/Wichita, Kan. ), Logan Kreen, Jonathan Pettyjohn (JR/Broken Arrow, Okla.), and Noah Stockton (SO/Bentonville, Ark. ).  This is a very young team that will continue to make big improvements over the next couple of years.  We will continue to work hard and be dedicated to accomplishing our goals."  

Logan White (JR/Wichita, Kan.) led the Falcons with a 16th place overall finish (27:11.24), while Mauro Arancibia Campo (JR/Talca, Chile)s finished 19th (27:19.13) in his first career KCAC championship race.   Right behind him was senior Isaac Sprague in 22nd (27:37.20). "It was good to see Nathan Mier (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) bounce back today," Parr said. "Looking forward to watching him make big improvements."  Mier wound up right behind Sprague in 23rd with a time of 27:43.86.

"Freshman Josiah Bolton (FR/Ellsworth, Kan. ) (28:09.68) finished as our fifth guy today in 29th overall and was looking good," Parr said. "I'm thankful for all of our guys who ran and competed today." The Men's Falcons also received the prestigous KCAC Men's Cross Country Team of Character, presented by IMA Financial Group and Dissinger Reed. 

Friends Men Results
http://results.tfmeetpro.com/AccuData_Timing_Service_LLC/2019_KCAC_XC_Championships/