Men's Cross Country
Men's Cross Country Summary & Results - Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bethel College Pilots: 12
Knight Invitational
Game Summary
The Bethel harriers competed in the very challenging Knight Invitational hosted by Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The men’s field consisted of the NCAA Div. III No. 6 and No. 7 ranked teams as well as the No. 2 and No. 16 ranked teams in the NAIA. The women’s field was also loaded with the No. 2 and No. 14 ranked Div. III teams in addition to the No. 15, No. 17, No. 30 and No. 31 ranked NAIA teams, with the Lady Pilots being the latter. The conditions were set for a great meet on a fair but challenging cross country course.
The Pilot women finished 10th having their best race of the year with the top five all finishing under 20:00. They were once again led by freshman Trisha Miller who finished 18th with a new personal record of 18:47. She was followed by a good pack consisting of Irene Kangai, Amber Wray, Danielle Lewis, and Katie Heisey. Freshman Brittany Fabris and sophomore Jessica Scott rounded out the top seven. Several ladies finished with new personal best times they include Trisha Miller, Courtney Chapman, Charity Brown, Alissa Aukerman, Trisha Karcher, and Laura Miller.
One of the coolest pieces of the meet was when several Bethel ladies inquired as to whether other athletes wanted to pray after the meet. It resulted in a large circle of athletes gathering for a prayer after competition. The surrounding crowd also hushed in respect of their action.
“I am proud of the actions of our ladies both on the course and off in this very talented field of athletes,” commented Coach Sommers. “All of the ladies challenged themselves, in turn, they found themselves racing well. The progression from our first meet is tremendous. Today was a blessing in many ways.”
The Pilot men finished 12th also showing much improvement. Again, sophomore Harrison Fausey set the pace with a 69th place finish with a time of 26:49 in a deep field. He was followed by a pack of Bethel harriers. Austin O’Connor, Jordan Oloomi, Jared Mead and Drew Bishop rounded out the top five with Ryan Waybright and Adam Crawford close behind. From the start this group plus Cory Naragon and Raymond Duttweiler formed a great pack which proved to propel several to some of their best races as a Pilot. Jordan Oloomi, Jared Mead, Adam Crawford, and Nolan Dodge all ran personal best times with Harrison Fausey and Drew Bishop finishing within 5 and 1 seconds respectfully from their all—time best.
“We witnessed some great efforts from the guys today,” stated Coach Sommers. “The gentlemen have set some challenging goals and made significant strides in the laying the foundation that will propel them toward reaching them. Their attitude and focus was encouraging today.”
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