BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Murray State College cross country teams turned in strong performances at the NJCAA Region 2 Championships on Saturday morning. The women's cross country team finished third overall, while both teams placed four runners total inside the top 10 (2 men and 2 women).

Women's Race – 5K
Freshman Erica Frass led the Aggies with a 7th-place finish in 21:00.5, followed closely by Christine Kurgat in 10th (21:42.9). Cheyanne Herrier crossed the line in 12th (21:57.3), while Brynn Custar placed 16th (22:21.3). Zoe Jones completed the team scoring with a time of 23:18.3 to place 20th.
 
Also representing the Aggies were Dakota Logan (23rd, 24:07.4) and Carlee Gayler (26th, 25:03.4), who both ran extremely well on the regional stage.
 
#7 Northwest Arkansas Community College claimed the team title with 25 points, followed by #17 Carl Albert State in second with 43 points, and (RV) Murray State rounding out the top three with 53.
 
Men's Race – 8K
The Aggies were led by freshman Kaleb Madron, who finished 6th overall with a time of 28:05, capping an impressive debut season with another top-10 performance. Sophomore Halen Pannell followed close behind, placing 10th in 29:02, giving Murray State two finishers in the top ten.

Rounding out the team's scoring were Shawn Weaver (31:13, 24th), Josh Armstrong (31:49, 30th), and Alex Gomez (33:17, 34th). Juan Flores and Treygon Gehring also represented the Aggies, finishing 35th and 36th respectively.
 
Northwest Arkansas Community College captured the regional championship with 45 points, followed by Carl Albert State (54) and UA Rich Mountain (58).

Following the race, Coach Wagner was proud of the effort, especially from the women's team saying, "I'm really proud of how our women's team competed today. We finished right behind two Top 20 programs in the country, which shows how far we've come. Last year we had one runner in the Top 10 — this year we had four. It's been awesome to see that improvement, and we're excited to keep building over the next two weeks as we head toward Nationals."

The Aggies close out the season on November 8 as they travel to Fort Dodge, Iowa to compete in Nationals.

Assistant Sports Information Director: Jeremy Wagner | jwagner@mscok.edu
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