Lawson Doesn?t Break Stride While Minkler Sets a School Record

St. Louis, Mo. – Another week of races are in the books and two American Midwest Conference (AMC) runners have impressed amongst their competitors. Tyler Lawson from Columbia College gets to take home his second AMC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week award while Betsy Minkler accomplishes something no other runner at Williams Baptist College (WBC) has done before.

Lawson finds his name in the spotlight for the second time this season as he impressed at the Royal XC Meet in Charlotte, N.C. Lawson was running against 201 total runners when he placed 10th overall. The freshman from St. Louis, Mo., posted a time of 25:12 on the eight kilometer course, helping his team to an eighth place finish. With that, the 20th ranked Cougars were able to beat two higher-ranked NAIA teams. All this can be accredited to the effort of this week's AMC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week, Tyler Lawson.

Minkler is a sophomore from Bakersfield, Mo., and now a legend at WBC. The Eagles competed in the University of the Ozarks Cross Country Invitational in Clarksville, Ark. Minkler, alongside 77 other runners, lined up at the starting line with hopes of coming out on top, and she did. For the first time in WBC history, a cross country runner, male or female, has finished first overall in an event. Minkler was able to post a time of 19:02 in the five kilometer race, helping her team to a second place finish amongst teams from the NCAA and NAIA. History was made and an honor was earned by Minkler, week's AMC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week.