Cross country ties best finishes in program history at SCIAC Championships
POMONA, Calif. – The men's and women's cross country teams competed at the SCIAC Championships earlier this morning at Pomona-Pitzer. Both squads tied their best team finishes in program history, with the men taking seventh overall while the women took sixth place out of the nine conference teams.
Senior Drake Butler paced the Panthers in his final SCIAC Championships, placing 34th overall with a time of 27:18.3, the 10th-best time in school history. Butler started in the middle of the pack but a late burst helped him cross the finish line before the rest of his teammates. Freshmen Anthony Hart and Aiden White finished mere seconds apart from each other, coming in at 27:31.3 and 27:35.1 respectively. The pair helped pace each other as they consistently stayed in the middle of the pack throughout the race.
Junior Jose Guerrero and freshman Jacob Millen finished next as Guerrero crossed at 28:01.5 with Millen just behind at 28:09.8. Millen felt sick halfway through the race but finished strong to help score for the Panthers. Freshmen David Anderson and Charles Sakamaki were the next Panthers to cross, finishing at 28:44.4 and 28:52.1 respectively.
Freshman Josh Lee ran his first race as a Panther this morning, debuting with a time of 29:19.3. Freshman Dalton Flores and Micah Char finished exactly 20 seconds apart, with Flores posting a time of 29:47.5 and Char finishing at 30:07.4.
Freshman Chase Shanafelt and junior Emerson Klump rounded out the scoring for the Panthers at 31:46.0 and 33:22.3. Sophomore Davis Carmichael was running a strong race until he pulled his hamstring and had to drop out.
The women ran a strong race to finish in sixth place, tying their highest finish in program history from the 2018 season.
Newcomer Maddie Mirro ran the best race of her career, missing All-SCIAC Second Team honors by less than 10 seconds. The rookie paced the Panthers to take 22nd place with a career-best time of 23:41.6, which is also the third-best time in program history. Mirro led the Panthers from the opening shot until she crossed the finish line.
Fellow freshman Audrey James was the next Panther to cross the finish line at 24:07.0 followed by junior Emma Eglinton just 10 seconds later at 24:17.7. Freshman Katie Hansen also kept her time under 25 minutes in just her second race in a Chapman uniform, finishing eight spots behind Eglinton at 24:34.8. Freshman Gabriella Lee was the final Panther to finish under 25 minutes at 24:52.1.
Freshmen Ella Conway and Jordan Diaz finished just 15 seconds apart at 25:13.9 and 25:28.4 respectively. Fellow classmates Megan Campbell and Shirley Sallas finished out the scoring for Chapman. Campbell finished with a time of 25:36.3 while Sallas finished the race at 27:02.6.
Select members of the teams will head to the NCAA Division III West Regionals in two weeks held at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.
by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant
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