2023-2024 Men's XC and T&F

[1972Shocker]

JK Gold Classic Results

Competing against Non-D1 competition the Shocks dominated this race as expected. As the Shocks had 8 of the Top 10 spots with Emporia State runners finishing 6th and 9th.

The winner of the race was newcomer, Adam Rzentkowski (pronounce Jen-Kusky), a junior transfer, from Central Michigan, in a time of 18:09.24 who was running unattached in this race. He was followed by Sr. Ieysten Williams, Sr. Jackson Caldwell, Jr. Trey Rios, and Jr. Zander Cobb to round out the top 5 finishers. Impressively, their was only 13.5 seconds separating 1 through 5. The total combined time of the top 5 finishers, including Rzentkowksi, was 1:31.29.

It is a little difficult to compare times for races on different courses and, of course, weather condition can very as well. but last year the winning time in this meet at Raft Golf Course in Augusta was 18:05.10 with the top 5 times totaling 1:31.30.

This appears to be Adam's first 6K XC race. The other 4 Shocks that finished top 5 all set new personal bests. This is pretty much a new squad that year as only Caldwell Jackson was among the top 5 finishers in last year's JK Gold Classic.

Seems like a good solid opening effort for this year's men's team. Hopefully, they are on track for another 2nd place finish in the AAC behind the Tulsa XC dynasty although I am not sure what the newcomers bring to the AAC in XC.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Teammates Helped Williams Through Tough First Season

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/9/2/cross-country-rh-teammates-helped-williams-through-tough-first-season.aspx

Running on the firm grass of Kansas on a sunny day is a treat for Iestyn Williams, who grew up racing in quite different conditions in Wales.

"Our cross country is up to the knees in mud," he said. "You're fudging around at six-minute miling. Today, we were running sub-5 and it felt so good. I felt like I was flowing."

Williams led the Shockers to a strong debut on their new Clapp Cross Country Course at Clapp Park on Saturday. He won the college portion of men's 6-kilometer race with a time of 18 minutes, 16.55 seconds (finishing second overall behind unattached Adam Rzentkowski) and the Shockers won the team title with 16 points.

Williams, a senior from Llanddeusant, Wales, ran his first cross country race in almost six years, He came to Wichita State a year ago, but injuries kept him out of cross country and indoor track. He returned for outdoor track and didn't perform up to his standards.

He started to get healthy late in the outdoor season. He set a personal record in the 1,500 (3:46.77) over the summer to signal that his recovery was on the right track. Saturday confirmed it publicly.

"I wanted to come out and make a statement and prove that I wasn't going to be a waste of a (roster spot)," he said. "Not many people expected me to finish like this. I surprised myself and I surprised a lot of people. I'm glad the work is paying off."

Wichita State coach Kirk Hunter saw Williams' improvement when the team started practicing this summer. Williams best race is the 800 meters and he worked up to longer distances over the past months.

"We did a long 10-mile escalation run a few weeks ago at camp and he was right there with the top guys," Hunter said. "He's obviously going to be one of our top guys because he's doing really well, and he looks great."

Williams called last season a "horrible" time. Hunter and his teammates helped by including him in activities and trips. He traveled with the team to the American Athletic Conference Championships.

"They're like family," he said. "They kept me involved. A lot of injured people feel isolated."

Williams talked with former Shocker Ben Flowers, who went through two years of idleness due to injury. Roommates Erik Enriquez and Cesar Ramirez gave him rides to practice and the doctor. Enriquez, from Wichita, had teammates to his home for dinner.

"He's a long way from home," Enriquez said. "He has a family away from home."

[1972Shocker]

XC gets a new course closer to campus.

NEW COURSE IN THE CITY: SHOCKERS MOVE CROSS COUNTRY HOME TO CLAPP

Would like to hear Coach Hunters assessment of the Clapp Course after the inaugural races at the JK Gold Classic. I think every one of the Shocker men and women who finished in the top 5 positions for the Shocks and who previously had run a 6K (for the men) or 5K (for the women) XC race set a new personal best, some by significant margins. This applied to 8 Shockers (one of the guys and one of the ladies were running in their first XC race for this distance). This would seem to indicate Clapp Park is a fast track, at least with the weather and course conditions in place on Saturday.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers will race against 32 colleges and universities, including five Division I Midwest Region teams, Creighton, Drake, Iowa State, Kansas and Nebraska.

Three of the top five Midwest Region teams will be in attendance on the men's side (Iowa State-3, Drake -4, WSU-5), but Wichita State's top runners will not be in the mix, as they prepare for the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29.

A few Shocker men, along with a handful of unattached newcomers, will race their first 8K of the season after running a 6K at the JK Gold Classic.

[1972Shocker]

Not sure which of the Shockers skipped this weeks meet in Nebraska to prepare for the Notre Dame Invitational on September 29th. Adam Rzentkowski, Trey Rios, and Jaclson Caldwell were in the Top 5 last week and are absent from the Top 5 this week.

The Shockers stepped up from the 6k they ran last week to run an 8k race this week.

Looks like Zander Cobb, the juco transfer from Iowa Central CC, set a new PR by about 10.5 seconds.

Cezar Ramirez improved his previous best time by 56.7 seconds.

I believe this was Iestyn William's first collegiate 8k XC race as it was for Freshmen Aidan Reyna and Riley Vanveer.

So all in all I'm thinking a 3rd place finish was not a bad outcome for these guys.

I suspect the runner liked the cooler conditions in place this week..

Team standings not yet avaialble.

[Kung Wu]

Not sure which of the Shockers skipped this weeks meet in Nebraska to prepare for the Notre Dame Invitational on September 29th. Adam Rzentkowski, Trey Rios, and Jaclson Caldwell were in the Top 5 last week and are absent from the Top 5 this week.

The Shockers stepped up from the 6k they ran last week to run an 8k race this week.

Looks like Zander Cobb, the juco transfer from Iowa Central CC, set a new PR by about 10.5 seconds.

Cezar Ramirez improved his previous best time by 56.7 seconds.

I believe this was Iestyn William's first collegiate 8k XC race as it was for Freshmen Aidan Reyna and Riley Vanveer.

So all in all I'm thinking a 3rd place finish was not a bad outcome for these guys.

I suspect the runner liked the cooler conditions in place this week..

Team standings not yet avaialble.

8k? That's a thing? Have I been oblivious this whole time? Tell me more about this 8k.

[1972Shocker]

8k? That's a thing? Have I been oblivious this whole time? Tell me more about this 8k.

The 8k is the most common distance for the men. That is the distance they will run at the AAC Championships and I think is the most common distance for Conference Championships.

The NCAA Men's XC Championships is a 10k race I believe.

At least that is my understanding which is certainly not anything close to expert knowledge.

[1972Shocker]

From the goShockers.com write-up:

With a handful of athletes not racing this week in preparation for the Notre Dame Invitational, junior transfer Zander Cobb led the Shocker men to a third-place team finish, placing eighth in the red division 8K with a time of 24:24.86. Cesar Ramirez (15^th; 24:45.98), Iestyn Williams (16^th; 24:52.23) and Aidan Reyna (17^th; 24:57.34) all recorded top-20 finishes, and Riley Vandaveer finished 47^th in his first 8K race.

"When you only have five guys, and you leave a lot of your guys home, you're in the hole already," Hunter said. "You're up against a mountain there, but I thought the guys that ran did a good job. They may not have executed the plan perfectly throughout the entire race, but they came out of it and ended up racing well at the end."

Team standings among the 7 D-1 teams competing:

https://results.blacksquirreltiming.com/meets/27434/xc-events/1019932/scores

[Kung Wu]

The 8k is the most common distance for the men. That is the distance they will run at the AAC Championships and I think is the most common distance for Conference Championships.

The NCAA Men's XC Championships is a 10k race I believe.

At least that is my understanding which is certainly not anything close to expert knowledge.

Wow. It's been this way for a long time? I don't think I ever connected with the 8k. My brain is all about 6k and 10k for some reason. I need to pay more attention!

[1972Shocker]

Wow. It's been this way for a long time? I don't think I ever connected with the 8k. My brain is all about 6k and 10k for some reason. I need to pay more attention!

The 6k is the most common XC race for the women and I think that includes the National Championship meet. Now in track and field not sure they ever run a 6k or 8k. There you have primarily the 3k, 5k and 10k races.

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

[Kung Wu]

We're rated #S??? No way!

[1972Shocker]

We're rated #S??? No way!

That is clearly not an S but an upside down 2. Unfortunately, since it is upside down the means were ranked next-to-last. Not sure why that warrants an X post but at least they are clearly and unequivocally communicating information about the team.

[WuDrWu]

I'm so ****ing tired of seeing that upside down 2 ........... That alone should have gotten Boatright fired on the spot.

Went against 3G and allowed them to use upside down numbers to save a nickel. UFB