Katie Mona had never run in a 5K in her life before Friday’s Jock Nitch Invitational at Jones Park in Emporia.
Mona’s inexperience didn’t seem to matter as the ESU freshman ran like a veteran. Mona followed the leaders for most of the race until pulling ahead in the final 800 meters for her first collegiate win.
“I was trying to start off a little slower and not sprint out, because usually I go really fast in the beginning and I end up not having enough for the end,” Mona said. “So I tried to get out somewhere where I’d be in the top group, but not be in the lead because my coach didn’t want me to lead.”
The ESU men did not follow the Mona model and got out to a fast start and stayed at the front to win the meet. Skyler Delmott finished second and led four Hornets in the top 10 and five in the top 11. Emporia State beat second-place Johnson County Community College 34-80.
“I thought they went out too fast,” ESU coach Dave Harris said. “I thought, ‘man, we’re going to crash and burn out here. We’re going to have a tough time on the second loop.’ But they got out there and they kind of got to what we call the sticking point and they just stuck and they stayed there and no one came around them, and they just held those positions. And thank goodness they held them through the end and we won the meet.”
Delmott said the fans helped the Hornets keep pace.
“We had a lot more fans than we normally do,” he said. “Hearing everybody yell for you — I was thinking to myself that I’m kind of hurting — and then with all those poeple shouting your name, you kind of forget about it.”
The only Hornet whose performance suffered by running hard early was senior Marcus Summers, who finished 35th. Summers led in the first half mile and wore himself out. In the team’s first three meets, Summers had been ESU’s No. 2 runner, but he finished behind 10 teammates on Friday.
Adam McGovern had the second-best time for the Hornets, finishing in fifth place. William Hohmeier followed in seventh, Sloane Kern in ninth and Asher Delmott was the final ESU runner to score points for the team in 11th. The ESU men won their only home meet for the second straight year.
Delmott was not able to defend his title, finishing behind Cloud County’s Julias Bor, who ran a 23:55 to set a new course record by 41 seconds. Delmott finished in 25:09, his best time in an 8K this season, almost a minute faster than his time two weeks ago at the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln.
“Lincoln is a much tougher course than this but I’m pretty pleased with my time,” Delmott said. “I really wanted to be under 25 and I was nine seconds over so that’s a little disappointing, but it was a pretty good time for today.”
Sophomore Morgan Frehe ran a personal best time and finished 12th to help the ESU women to a third-place finish. Kathryn Davison came in 20th, Tiffany Baum 24th and Christy Weller 30th.
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