Colby Cross Country teams place 1st among Junior Colleges on opening weekend

LINCOLN, Neb. - The Trojan cross-country teams opened their 2023 season at the Greeno / Dirsksen Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. Both men's and women's programs finished as the top junior college teams in their respective races.

Kgadi Monyebodi won the men's race with a time of 23:31.7, a full minute faster than his time on the same course last year and equal to former Trojan Sanele Masondo's winning time of 23:31.0 from the 2022 race. Freshman Sibonelo Khumalo opened up his career as a Trojan with a great showing, placing 6th overall with a time of  24:04.3. Sophomore Leandre Lahalle also saw a big jump in performance from a year ago. The Montivilliers, France native completed the 8k course in 25:17.5, nearly a full minute and a half faster than his 2022 result.

The Lady Trojans were represented well on the women's side with the strong trio of Elif Poyraz, Tara Bert, and Rosemary Arthur. Freshman Elif Poyraz was the Trojans top finisher on the women's side, completing the 5000m course in 18:30.8. Arthur completed her first race in navy and white, running 18:37.9. Sophomore Tara Bert finished second on the women's team, with a time of 18:36.7. Her time was more than three minutes faster than her result one year ago.

The Trojan cross country squad now sets their sites to the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri on Friday, September 29th.

Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/22660/2023_Greeno_Dirksen_Invite#event144481