By Sarah Meier, Assistant Athletic Director
VICTORIA, Kan. – Oct. 18, 2014 – Christian Gering (San Felipe Pueblo) broke the Fort Lewis College men’s 8K record Saturday afternoon at the Fort Hays State University Tiger Open, held at Sand Plum Park in Victoria, Kan.
Gering’s 8K time of 24:13.17 broke a 26-year old record held by Charles England. England recorded a time of 25:02 on Nov. 18, 1988 in Kenosha, Wis.
The Skyhawks men’s team scored 207 points to place seventh out of 17 teams. Colorado School of Mines tallied 33 points to win the open. Ian Butler of Western State Colorado University was the individual winner with a time of 23:33.00.
Garrett Sapakoff finished the 8K course in 25:12.80 for a 66th place finish. He was followed by Joey Brenner (72nd, 25:21.30), Tate Lagascoa (80th, 25:35.70), William Scoggins (92nd, 25:50.30), Michael Walker (94th, 25:52.10), Derek Laue (133rd, 26:28.00), Ryan Mott (137th, 26:32.10), John Booton (152nd, 26:50.40), and Zach Chenoweth (158th, 26:58.80).
The Skyhawks times for Sapakoff, Brenner and Lagasca each landed in the Fort Lewis top 10 list.
Fort Lewis’ next competition will be the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 8. Western State will host the championship races at Van Tuyl Trails in Gunnison, Colo.