Mato stands up to the competition, No. 8 Lady Cougars finish 9th at J.K. Gold Classic

The No. 8 ranked Barton Community College women's cross country team finished ninth overall  Saturday in the small college division of the 66th Annual JK Gold Classic held in Augusta, Kansas.  With a total of 116 competitors in the two team division 4k race, the Lady Cougars finished fourth among fellow NJCAA competitors in a total time of 1:25.48.  

Kicking in for a late race charge, Lydia Mato finished third overall behind Kansas State University athletes Morgan Wedekind and Lauren Galvan while also finishing just in front of Wichita State University sophomore Sidney Hirsch.  Clocking in at 13:54.89, Mato finished over 90 seconds in front of second place fellow NJCAA competitor Terra Flores of Butler Community College.

Holly Pierce was the second Lady Cougar athlete to finish coming in at 17:20.57 placing 72nd overall and 40th in the small college division.  Kaitlynn Tuey was Barton's third athlete to cross the line finishing at 17:52.54 for 85th overall and 51st in the division.  Trenna Cox ran 18:18.53 finishing 93rd overall (56th division) followed by Yazmin Rendon four seconds later at 18:22.54 in 96th place (58th division).

The Lady Cougars will take a couple of weeks from competition until heading to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational to be held on Saturday, September 20.

Complete team results     Complete individual results

More information regarding the J.K. Gold Classic can be found at www.goshockers.com