IOWA CITY, Iowa Senior Joseph Moore led the Kansas State men’s cross country team with a 31^st-place finish at the Midwest Regional cross country championships Nov. 12, at Iowa City, Iowa. Overall, the men’s team finished 14^th in their last competition of the season.

In the final cross country race of his collegiate career, Moore improved on his 55^th-place finish at the Midwest Regionals one year ago. Head Coach Michael Smith was pleased with Moore’s performance on Saturday.

“(Joseph Moore) had a good run today on a challenging course,” said Smith. “He tried to run with the lead pack for as long as he could. Then they started to separate throughout the race. He placed better than he did last year, so that was a great improvement.”

Behind Moore, freshman Alex Umberger crossed the line in 64^th-place, recording a time of 32:56. Junior Hiral Bhakta continued his recent success as he ran in the third position for the Wildcats, finishing with a time of 33:28 and a 85^th-place finish.

“This was a good experience for our young runners,” said Smith. “Now we know what to expect from this meet. Hopefully we will train at a higher level next summer so we can compete a little better next year. This season has been a learning experience.”

Freshman Liliani Mendez represented the K-State women’s team at the Midwest Regionals. A native of Dorado, Puerto Rico, Mendez crossed the line in 50^th with a time of 22:44, the fastest 6K time for any of the K-State women this season.

“I am really happy with the progress that Liliani Mendez has made,” said Smith. “It really is too bad that we didn’t have her for the whole season. I would look forward to seeing what she can do in both the indoor track season and the outdoor track season.”

K-State Men’s Finishers

1. Joseph Moore (31)                 32:03

2. Alex Umberger (64)                32:56

3. Hiral Bhakta (85)                    33:28

4. Matt Swedlund (112)              34:22

5. Casey Johnson (115)             34:30

6. Ben DeLay (127)                   35:03