INDIANOLA - The Southwestern Community College men's cross country team finished fourth in its season-opening meet Friday at the Bill Buxton Invitational, hosted by Simpson College.
The host Storm picked up the meet victory with 33 points. SWCC scored 104 points to finish fourth, ahead of Graceland's 137 points.
Friday's meet was a great learning experience for the Spartan men, as three of the five runners were competing in their first ever cross country meet.
Two of those first-timers led the way for the Spartans. Freshman Brandon Briley of Creston finished 13th overall with his time of 20:27.1 over the 6K distance, while freshman Zach Roome of Sydney, Australia, finished 26th overall in 21:15.5.
"I thought Brandon showed how much grit he has," said Scott Vicker, SWCC director of cross country/track & field. "He kept battling late in the race when I know it was feeling tough for him. That is one of his biggest strengths that I think will carry over from the track to the cross country course. Brandon did a great job of sticking to the race plan I gave him, which is tough to do in your first race. He beat some really good individuals, and he ran about 3 seconds faster than Chase Oates did as a freshman on this course. So there's lots to be excited about with Brandon. Zach stuck right with Brandon through the first 3K of the race, which was the plan, but he started to fall off in the second half of the race. Still, for his first time racing over 1 mile, I thought Zach ran well."
Jacob Driskill led a pack of three Spartan runners across the line in 42nd, 43rd, and 44th place, as he was followed by Cameron Swapsy and Dillon Starlin. Driskill ran 22:22.2, with Swapsy and Starlin running 22:34.0 and 22:34.4.
"Jacob and Cam did a good job of getting out with Brandon and Zach for the first mile. They both fell off through the middle of the race, but I thought Jacob did a great job of rebounding in the final mile," Vicker said. "For both of those guys, we'll need to improve the middle part of the race and keep them closer to the front two. Dillon started a bit faster than we planned, but I think it was good for him to experience that. He did a good job of continuing to push throughout the race.
"Even though the race didn't play out quite like I hoped it would, overall I was still really happy with how we performed," Vicker said. "We definitely learned some areas we need to work on before our next meet, but this was such a better team performance than what we've had at this meet the past few years that it's hard to be upset about it. We knew we wouldn't be at our best in this first meet, and that we would make a lot of progress throughout the season, so in that sense we're right where we're supposed to be. I feel like this is a good starting point for our season, and most importantly, was a great chance for our guys to get some race experience."
Southwestern returns to action Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Greeno-Dirksen Invite, co-hosted by University of Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan University.
