September 9, 2017
Men's Results I Women's Results
DELAWARE, Ohio - In perfect fall weather conditions, the Bluffton men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in a field of 18 teams in Liberty Park (Powell, Ohio) in the Great Lakes Pre-Regional Invitational hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University.
Leading the way for the Beavers was sophomore Dakota Frost (Edgerton/Hicksville) who posted a solid 12th place finish in the field of 212 competitors. Sophomore Connor Gulick (St. Louisville, Ohio/Utica) and junior transfer Wyatt Baer (Marshallville, Ohio/Smithville) battled to the line for second and third man honors on the team, finishing less than one-tenth of a second apart. Completing the varsity scorers were juniors Jonah Eckert (Terre Haute, Ind./West Vigo) and Jacob Hill (Dayton/Wayne).
The women’s team was led by sophomore Alexis Cash (Gaines, MI/Lake Fenton) who finished a credible 47th in the even-larger women’s field of 237 finishers. Junior Jennie Matteson (Guysville/Alexander) crossed the line 23 seconds later with the fiercely competitive freshman Kimmie Hetrick (Fremont/Ross) only another 20 seconds behind Matteson. Rounding out the varsity squad were freshman Bailie Barrington (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen) and sophomore Arie Cox (Ontario) who definitely showed the positive effects of her summer training.
“Every race weekend is an opportunity to improve and to practice good race strategy,” said Head Coach Karen Brandt. “We saw another step forward today toward some very definite end-of-the-season goals. Frost, with one year’s experience, not only stepped up his summer training, but took big steps forward in learning to contend as a front runner. The trio of Cash, Matteson and Hetrick are also learning to combine their energies to be a potentially potent threat in the conference championship. It is obviously still early days, but as a program we are moving in the right direction.”
The Beavers travel to Clinton Heights Golf Course in Tiffin next Saturday, Sept. 16 to compete in the “Tiffleberg Open” hosted by Heidelberg University. The men’s 8k race starts at 11 a.m. followed by the women’s 6k race at noon. Awards will follow at 1:15 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
