By Adam Gibson | Copy Editor
The Baylor cross country teams went on the road to the Ken Garland Invitational on Saturday in Denton, where both the men and women were crowned as the invitational champions.
Women’s cross country head coach Todd Harbour said he was pleased with the results and how well the team was running together.
“Overall, it was a super day for both teams as they came out with wins,” Harbour said. “I thought they were executing on what we were wanting and running well as a pack. Gabby [Satterlee] ran a really good race, and I thought the middle of the pack did a super job. I thought Madelaine [Johnston] stepped up and had her first big break for us. They did a really good job today.”
Both the men and women had multiple runners place in the top 10. Satterlee placed second overall, behind a runner from the University of North Texas.
Satterlee said she wanted to be faster than she was last year and that she wanted to help her team out more this year. Placing second at the second invitational of the season proves that she is off to a hot start toward accomplishing her goal.
This year was the second year in a row that the men’s cross country team has won this invitational. The men’s team had two standout runners finishing in the top three. Graduate student Jordan West finished third overall while sophomore Devin Meyrer finished second overall. Jordan finished with a time of 20:28.6, whereas Meyrer finished with a time of 20:20.0, just 9.7 seconds behind the first-place finisher in the four-mile.
Meyrer was not able to race in the Bear Twilight Invitational, the first race of the season hosted in Waco on Sept. 1, because of an injury that occurred last year at TCU. Meyrer’s second-place finish in his first tournament since his injury shows that Meyrer is healthy and that he expects to be a major contributor this season.
Men’s head cross country coach Jon Capron said he was not exactly thrilled with the way the men’s team placed overall even though they ended up winning the invitational.
“The meet went really well. Our times weren’t what we were wanting, but I liked the results considering that,” Capron said. “I’m proud of the effort. To run with those times and come out with a win is pretty awesome.”
Overall, the men had five runners finish in the top 10 while North Texas had four and Oklahoma had one.
The Bears hope to build on this success in two weeks when they head to the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29 in South Bend, Ind.
