VICTORIA, Kan. – Garrison Blanton of the Northwestern Oklahoma State University men's cross country team breaks the school record in the FHSU Tiger Open at the Sand Plum Nature Trail, hosted by Fort Hays State.

Blanton shatters his previous record of 26:36.8 by 44.7 seconds, by posting a time of 25 minutes and 52.1 seconds. He placed 30th overall, with Derek Steele of Colorado School of Mines winning with a time of 24:08.9, leading the Mines to the team win with a score of 31.

"The men had their best team performance of the season," assistant coach Craig Binkley stated. "A number of our guys hit their personal best times. Garrison ran a very smart race to get the school's record."

Northwestern finished in ninth place in the team standings with 283 points. Kory Wilson was the next member of the Black-and-Red to finish, clocking a time of 27:03.3 moving himself up to the top-10 times list to third best Ranger finish.

Noble Buckhaults now has the seventh best time in Northwestern history after finishing at the 27:22.0 mark, while Deven Marshall moves into the 10th best time slot with a time of 27:40.1.

Moises Ortega had a time of 28:02.5, which is the 12th fastest time and Cody Schmidt had a time of 28:05.4 now sits with the 13th quickest mark in school history. Victor Cruz jumps to 155h in the ranks with a finish of 28:19.7.

Also competing for NWOSU was Jayden Watkins (28:46.6), Boady Johnson (29:01.0), Caleb Pierce (29:22.4), Timothy Jacobson (30:06.5), Dacoda McDowell-Wahpekeche (30:07.3), Bryan Francis (32:05.8), David Clemente (34:16.0) and Christopher Chauncey (37:22.9).

Northwestern will have a week off to gear up for the Great American Conference meet in Arkadelphia, Ark. On Oct. 26.

For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Cross Country, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.