The Bruins hosted the last regular season cross country meet this morning on the back fields of Bob Jones University's campus. The women raced a 6k and the men raced an 8k.

"It was a great race for the team overall," Head Coach Ken Roach said. "Our ladies ran extremely well and a gutsy performance. The guys team was a little banged up and we decided there was no reason to press this event. I'm proud of the way the remaining guys stepped up today."

The women's 6k was first with a 9:30 a.m. start time. With it being a 1k-loop course, the race became mental for most of the runners. Bruins top runner Joy Hast got out quick and created a big gap right away and held it the whole race. She won the race individually with a time of 24:12. Joanna Lain also raced a quality race coming in 3rd overall with a time of 24:58 holding off the 4th place runner that finished just a couple seconds behind her. Lauren Jones found herself back in the top three Bruins finishers with a time of 26:10 which placed her 9th overall. To round out the top five finishers for the Bruins, Kristen Dodds raced to a time of 26:47 and Cora Gagne finished at 27:56. The Bruins won 1st place as a team out of the 2 full teams that were there. Several other teams raced, but didn't have enough runners to complete a team score.

The men's 8k started shortly after at 10:15 a.m. The Bruins were very shorthanded today as three of the normal top five runners were sitting out due to injury. Coach Roach thought it would be better to sit and get ready for the nationals race which is in three weeks. This race gave some Bruins the chance to be a big part of the team score. Joel Batres-Mena came through the finish line first for the Bruins with a time of 28:31 finishing just outside the top ten at 11th overall. James Baer wasn't far behind finishing 13th overall with a time of 28:57. Daniel Kyle and Levi Gerbitz came next at 17th and 20th overall with times of 29:42 and 30:37. To round out the top five for the Bruins was Luke Vandenberghe finishing with a time of 33:34.

After the race, this years seniors were recognized for all their hard work over the years. Joy Hast, Joanna Lain, and Courtney Jones were the women recognized and Marc Johnson and Evan Seaman were the men recognized.

After the race, Coach Roach shared some confidence by saying, "This is a great team and we are ready for Nationals."

The Bruins now have three weeks until they travel to Warsaw, Indiana to hopefully capture another NCCAA DII National Championship! 

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