By Bryson Hartzler, sports information assistant

The Bluffton University's men's and women's cross country teams headed south to the greater Cincinnati area to compete in the Queen City Invitational 5k race. The meet was hosted by the Division 1 trio of Xavier University, University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. All together there were 15 teams and 300 competitors that toed the line on Friday, Sept. 7.

The men's team finished 8th overall in the very talented field and was the highest placing non-scholarship team. The Beavers were led once again by JOSHUA EDENS (Westerville/Central) who finished 30th in a field of 154 with a time of 15:48. The sophomore tandem of COLIN MCCLOSKEY (Sylvania/Northview) and ZACH BRADLEY (Sheffield/Brookside) rounded out the top three for the Beavers. McCloskey finished in 16:21 with Bradley just behind him in 16:28.

The women were without one of their top runners, freshman RAVEN WILSON (Coshocton/Riverview), but fellow freshman ANNA HAIRSTON (Mansfield/Ontario) picked up the slack in record-breaking fashion. Hairston, who is relatively new to the sport in only her second year, set the mark for the fastest 5k all time at Bluffton University. Hairston finished with a time of 19:37 in a very competitive women's field, good enough for 40th among 148 total runners. TARA MURPHY (Westerville/Thomas Worthington) finished second on the team and MEGAN LEFELD (St. Henry) finished third for the Beavers.

Overall Head Coach Karen Brandt was pleased with the performances of her team especially Edens and Hairston, both of which were the highest placing non-scholarships athletes.

"I was very pleased to see how our team held up to Division 1 competition at a Division 1 sponsored event. In just one week's time we saw tremendous improvements in performances on both teams. I'm very proud to see the high finishes from Edens and Hairston, especially Anna being a relative novice at the sport. It's a long season with a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited at our prospects."

The Beavers will head north to Calvin College for the NCAA Regional preview race next Saturday the 14th.