SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Friends University Falcons placed fourth in both the Men's 8K and Women's 6K races at the KCAC Championship today (Nov. 7), with Joaquin Miranda capturing the men's championship and Rose Buck recording a top five finish on the women's side. 

Miranda won the individual title with a PR time of 24:27.3 to become the third Falcon in the last six years to come home with the KCAC individual championship (Logan Horning, 2022, Emad Bashir Mohammad, 2021). His time is now second all-time in program history. 

"I'm really proud of Joaquin," said Friends cross country head coach Tracy Jex. "To come into this conference with the tradition and history that it has, and become a conference champion as a freshman is really impressive. I'm really proud of how he has carried himself  and how he has represented Friends University."

Sam Wright also hit a PR and was next in 27th at 26:04.7, while Laurenz Steiss placed 38th with a time of 26:41.1 (season-best). Xavi Rafart added a 47th-place finish (27:00.9, PR) and Joshua Glover was 49th at 27:02.1 (season-best) to round out the Falcons top five runners.

To add to what was already a productive day, the Falcon Men was awarded the 2026 KCAC Men's Cross Country Team of Character under head coach Tracy Jex. 

Buck led the Women's Falcons with a fifth-place result while posting a career-best time of 22:24.3. Lexi Patterson placed 19th with a PR of 23:46.5, followed closely by Ellie Petz in 20th (23:49.6, PR). Lydia Walden took 27th (24:10.7, PR) and Hannah Cribley (24:19.2) came in 29th to wrap up the Falcon Women's top five runners.

"Rose ran a great race," said Jex. "She broke her own school record, and ran a really strong race. As the top freshman in the conference she let everyone know that the future is bright for the Friends Falcons."

"Everyone ran really well today for both the men and the women," Jex continued. "We had several season and lifetime bests today. Both teams had great attitudes and gave really good efforts. It was topped off by our men's team being named the men's Team of Character. Something that means a lot to me personally, as it shows that our team works hard and is respectful, caring and serves not only their own teammates but other teams as well." 

The official NAIA National Qualifiers is set to be announced on Tuesday (Nov. 10) at 4 pm. 

Men's Team Results (8K)
1. St. Mary (Kan.) - 37 points
2. Kansas Wesleyan - 47 points
3. Evangel - 86 points
4. Friends - 112 points
5. Bethel (Kan.) - 159 points
6. Tabor - 201 points
7. Sterling - 201 points
8. Oklahoma Wesleyan - 233 points
9. McPherson - 258 points
10. Southwestern (Kan.) - 292 points

Women's Team Results (6K)
1. Kansas Wesleyan - 27 points
2. St. Mary (Kan.) - 37 points
3. Evangel - 77 points
4. Friends - 96 points
5. Tabor - 169 points
6. Oklahoma Wesleyan - 212 points
7. Sterling - 217 points
8. Bethany (Kan.) - 253 points
9. Bethel (Kan.) - 256 points
10. McPherson - 294 points