Conf. Champ. looms next for CC XC after muddy Columbia College meet

Rain or shine, the Cottey College cross country team is ready for its postseason.

The Comets wrapped up their regular season at the Columbia College Spring Fling Friday at muddy Gans Creek Park in Columbia, which received two inches of rain in the days leading up to the firing of the starting pistol.

Though conditions were less than ideal, Cottey head coach Rose Howell reported strong performances from her five long-distance runners.

"We were excited to race in Columbia because of the hills and challenges that are similar to Lyon College’s course," Howell stated of the course that will host the upcoming A.I.I. Conference Championship on March 27.

Sophomore Ella Page had the top finish for Cottey, crossing the 5K finish line in 21 minutes, 8.59 seconds — good enough for 23rd overall.

Sophomore teammate Martina Ramirez was not far behind, finishing 26th with a time of 21:12.68.

Freshman Kiana Garcia was next closest in 33rd (22:26.09), followed by sophomores Karina Gchachu (22:52.06) and Deanndria Shields (23:02.69) in 38th and 40th, respectively.

The Comets finished fifth out of six teams with 141 points. The University of Saint Mary rode three top-four finalists to a meet title with 27 points, while host Columbia took second with 67. John Brown University junior Allika Pearson bested all runners with a time of 18:38.15.

"Even though it wasn’t a fast course, we haven’t had a race yet this semester where our entire team has raced all-out," Howell stated. "So we are going into the Conference Championships with the confidence that we will be able to pull out all the stops when the time comes."