Trojans Compete at CMU

Breanna Newton racing to an 8th place finish at CMU Invite

On Saturday, the men's & women's cross country teams got back to racing after a three-week layoff by competing in the Gary Stoner Invitational, hosted by Central Methodist University. Both the men and women placed 6th as a team on an unusually warm October day.

The women were led by another strong effort by freshman Breanna Newton, who placed 8th in the very competitive 5K race with a time of 19:35. The next five Lady Trojans, Amber Zinkula (39th), Mandi Riddle (40th), Sarah Erickson (43rd), Jessica Bailey (44th) and Liz Wilder (46th), finished within 38 seconds of one another. Carissa Eichmeyer (47th), Kayle Anders (52nd), and Chelsea Holmstrom (54th) also competed for HLG on the day.

The men were without the services of top-5 runners Tyler Malone and Deon Russell but the 5 men who competed did so with a great deal of heart and effort. Junior Philiph Tonui battled the heat and a shoe problem to place 7th in the 8K race with a time of 26:11. Jason Cline put forth another strong effort and placed 44th with teammate Brett Jones close behind in 46th place. Ben Griffin (48th) and Nathan Uding (52nd) rounded out the effort for the men.

COACH COMMENTS: It was good to get back to racing after the long layoff. With such a young team, we struggled to find our racing form early and that, compounded by the heat and challenging course affected the times. With that said, I think we learned a lot today and will come out next weekend and reap the rewards of this experience. I was proud of the effort and heart shown today. I can tell you that these guys really want to do well and are putting in the work to make it happen. They also show up each weekend we race with great attitudes and represent HLG so well. It is a blessing to get to coach a group that is hungry for success and also seeks to honor Christ by and through what we do as a team.

The team is back in action next Saturday at the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville, IL. The women's 6K race begins at 11am and is followed by the men's 8K at 11:45am.