Both the women's and men's teams raced the Upstate Invite in Spartanburg, South Carolina this morning.

"It was an awesome race experience and a lot of competitive teams today," Head Coach Ken Roach said. "We really needed to deliver a good race performance heading into the final few weeks of the season."

The Bruins knew exactly what they were going into because they have practiced on this course throughout their season. The course provided some difficult terrain with lots of elevation change and rooted turns. Many thought going into the race that they wouldn't race as good of a time but they were confident to still have a quality race. It resulted, however, in members from both the women's and men's team running PRs (personal records) today despite the tough course.

The women's 5k was first at 9:00 a.m. The Bruins were looking for a tighter race today after the results of their last race were very spread out. They succeeded in that goal. Joy Hast kept her number one spot on the team today with a big PR finishing with a time of 19:31, and she now sits second place all-time in Bruins history! Joanna Lain and Kristen Dodds finished second and third for the Bruins at 21:02 and 21:17. Then to round out the top five were the Jones sisters, Lauren and Courtney, finishing with times of 21:40 and 22:26. Cora Gagne, Hannah Cohen, Ainsley Zimmerman, and Elizabeth Farley all rounded out the Bruins efforts today. Joy Hast and Kristen Dodds finished with PR times.

The men's 8k was next at 9:45 a.m. The Bruins were looking to pack up a little bit with consistent splits and that's exactly what they did. Evan Seaman led the way, per usual, racing a huge PR finishing at 27:09, which is the best any Bruin has ever ran at this race. The next four finishers for the Bruins all finished within 20 seconds of each other. Joel Batres-Mena came through in second on the team finishing at 28:08 before Trenton Goldsmith and Marc Johnson came through the finish line at 28:17 and 28:19. To close out the top five, freshman James Baer also raced a big PR finishing at 28:28. Daniel Kyle, Levi Gerbitz, Ian Flynn, and Luke Vandenburghe rounded out the men's team. In summary, Evan Seaman, Trenton Goldsmith, James Baer, and Daniel Kyle all raced to PR times.

"The team delivered in a huge way today," Coach Roach said. "Both women's and men's teams ran with high spirits and a lot toughness. Both teams hit their marks and showcased how good this team really is. I am very proud of them today!"

Full results for the race can be seen here.

One highlight from today's races was the support that was shown. Many parents along with many members of the Bruins track and field team came to cheer on the cross country teams and no doubt made a big difference in the overall performance.

The Bruins host the Bruins Invite next Saturday on the back fields of the Bob Jones University campus. The men's race begins at 9:30 and the women's race begins shortly after at 10:15 a.m.