Tulsa, Okla. - The Hillcat men's and women's cross country teams started their seasons at the second annual Distance After Dark home meet with the women taking first place as a team and the men finishing in third.

On the women's side, freshman Sisely Mitchell led the way finishing the 5-kilometer race in 17:48 and taking 4th place in her debut for the Hillcats. 

Mitchell was followed closely by Jordan Wallace, Rayna Kucharyski, and Kaylee Nay who finished in 5th, 6th, and 7th place. Katie Byrd finished in 12th place, putting all five of the Hillcats scoring runners in the top 15. Cadence Cordova and Emily Cruz rounded out the top 7 for the Hillcats finishing in 16th and 22nd place.

The women successfully defended their title winning by 40 points over the next closest team. A team average of 17:51 also set a new school record for the 5-kilometer distance.

The men were led by the duo of Nathaneal Gibson and Cade McCall, who finished in 6th and 7th place, both finishing in a time of 20:28 for the 4-mile race. Julius Oheim was the next runner to cross the line for the Hillcats in 10th place followed closely by Jonathan Mendez in 11th place. Ian Conder, Casey Little, and Blake Feron rounded out the top 7 for the Hillcats finishing in 18th, 19th, and 20th place.

The men's performance was good enough to take third place.

Both teams will toe the line again on Friday, Sept. 20th as they travel to Joplin, Missouri to compete in the Southern Stampede. 


Hillcat Women's Results
Sisely Mitchell           17:48 4th place 3rd best in RSU history
Jordan Wallace         17:50 5th place 4th best in RSU history
Rayna Kucharyski     17:51 6th place 5th best in RSU history
Kaylee Nay                17:51 7th place 7th best in RSU history
Katie Byrd                  17:56 12th place 
Cadence Cordova      18:11 16th place
Emily Cruz                  18:34 22nd place
Riley Coleman            18:36 23rd place
Ashley Riggenbach    18:42 27th place
Tehya Lang                 18:54 29th place
Brooklyn Garafola       19:15 34th place
Kiera Blumhof             19:18 36th place
Sarah Swofford           19:26 38th place
Jilian Skalicky             19:59 45th place
Kenzie Gilliam             20:16 49th place
Maryann Alvey            20:22 50th place
Faith Tinney                20:55 56th place
Isabel Bush                 21:15 60th place

Hillcat Men's Results