Cross Country
Comeback
Dylan Shah, Reporter & Designer
The Terry Masterson Invitational is a unique four-mile race with a bright setting under the lights. This one-mile loop around the Fun Valley Softball Complex is a path that consists of a mix of grass/dirt that winds down service roads and crossings that make the Masterson Twilight Classic one of the best early season college runs in the region. After a successful 2019 season, the Blue Dragons men’s team was looking to compete at the same or higher level like they had before. After the loss of sophomore runners, the stakes were high. Each and every runner has to perform their best and maintain peak physical health to reach thier goal. ▲ Photo by Dylan Shah ▲ Tegan Flanagan, Wichita, and Matthew Scharag, Hutchinson, stride forward straight out of the start line. Flanagan and Schaarg both beat their freshmen records at this years Twighlight Classic.
▲ Photo by Dylan Shah ▲ Tegan Flangan, Wichita, leads early in the race at
the
2020
Masterson
Classic.
The Blue Dragons ran hard and placed third overall as a team with four runners placing in the top 20. HutchCC’s very own Tegan Flanagan, Wichita, ran neck and neck with Cloud County’s Habtamu Geta for the race lead. The two swapped the lead through the first two miles of the four-mile course. Geta started to gain distance from Flanagan during the third mile and wounded up winning the men’s individual title outpacing Flanagan by 12.5 seconds. Flanagan outran his posted freshman time on the same course by 1 minute, 17 seconds with a time of 20:26.0. Flanagan recorded the third-fastest Masterson time by a Blue Dragon and the eighth-fastest time overall ever recorded at the Masterson Invitational. Flanagan wasn’t the only Blue Dragon with a big performance, Sophomore Jacob McElhanon, Midlothian, Texas, became the second Blue Dragon finisher placing sixth overall with a time of 22:03.4. Sophomore Matthew Schrag, Hutchinson, also had a strong 2020 season debut after finishing 13th while outpacing his freshman Masterson time by 48 seconds with a time of 22:16.9. The fourth Blue Dragon top 20 finisher with a great debut was freshman Cameron Delaney, Osborne, in 19th with a time of 22:39.6. Sophomore Andrew Holt, Lago Vista, Texas, just missed the top 20 with a 21st-place performance and a time of 22:46.8.
Flanagan finshed with a record time of 20:26.0.
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Dragon’s Tale • Cross Country Comeback
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10/1/20 12:48 PM
