WKU Cross Country Concludes 2023 Season at CUSA Championships

Saturday, October 28

Hobson Grove Park

9 AM

Western Kentucky University

CUSA Championship

WKU Cross Country Concludes 2023 Season at CUSA Championships

10/28/2023 1:23:00 PM | Cross Country

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Cross Country wrapped up the 2023 season at the Conference USA Championships Saturday morning at Hobson Grove Park.

The Hilltoppers were one of nine teams competing in the championship race in a new look CUSA. Newcomers included Jax State, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston State. The women's race had 76 runners; the men's had 74.

The men's squad finished seventh in the 8K race; the women finished up in eighth place in the 6K race.

For the fifth time this season, freshmen led the way for both the men and women. Jared Sandfoss led the men with a time of 25:38, his personal best in the 8K race. Kinley Kunkel once again led the women with a time of 24:05. The duo have been the top finishers for each team in all five meets this season.

Seven of the eight men recorded their best time of the season. Junior Brad Wiggins ran his best race of the season finishing in 26:19, good enough for the second-best team finish. Wade Balcom followed right behind with his best time of the season.

On the team's performance, Head Coach Ron Becht said "I'm proud of everyone, competed to the end, we competed hard. The guys especially, they ended up running a lot quicker than in our (earlier) home meet."

WKU Women's Results
35th - Kinley Kunkel - 24:05
42nd - Rylee Evans - 24:39
54th - Kynzlei Bassett - 25:29
59th - Mary Dye - 25:45
62nd - Keelin Elmer - 25:55
63rd - Arielle Phillips - 26:01
64th - Adeline Frisch - 26:06
73rd - Rory O'Connor - 28:23
74th - Lucy Rutherford - 28:37
75th - Emma Endress - 30:16

WKU Men's Results
39th - Jared Sandfoss - 25:38
48th - Brad Wiggins - 26:19
49th - Wade Balcom - 26:26
52nd - Trevor Hudnall - 26:32
54th - Rowen Wilkinson - 26:39
58th - Carson Sansenbach - 26:55
59th - Sam Brophy - 27:12
67th - Michael House - 28:17

How to Follow XC/Track and Field: For complete information on WKU XC and T&F, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUTrackField. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.