SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - The Beavers traveled down to Shelbyville, Indiana, on a beautiful yet warm November 2 for the 2024 HCAC Championships.

The women's championship race went off first, and freshmen Sara Smith (Mansfield/Madison Comprehensive) led the way coming back from an injury and battled to a 27:00 finish. Senior Basil Gates (Galion) crossed the line next for the Beavers in 27:25. Freshmen Kamryn McDonald (Marion/Harding) rounded out the squad, finishing in 29:41

The men's championship was up next, and despite missing their #2 runner, they still fought valiantly to an 8th Place team finish. Senior Cole Kropka (New London) led the men, much like he has all season, and finished 18th crossing the line in 26:53, a new season best and earning All-HCAC Honorable Mention for the second year in a row! Junior Jarrod Roudebush (Coshocton) was up next for the Beavers, crossing the line in 28:40 while just missing his PR. Sophomore Grant Beasley (Versailles) crossed the line next in 29:56.

The freshmen duo of Jordan Croy (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) and Kaden McWatters (Genoa) pushed each other all throughout the day and finished just five seconds apart to round out the scoring squad of 31:09 and 31:14, respectively, and new PR for Croy. Other standout performances included sophomore Micah Dodson (Wooster/Central Christian) who took off over a minute from his previous season best and just missed his PR, running 31:43, and fellow sophomore Chandler McCafferty (West Liberty/West Liberty-Salem) who ran a near 2-minute season best, crossing the line in 32:48.

Coach Gulick on his thoughts about the day, "I thought we competed well on both sides. The women's team had been dealing with a lot of injuries coming in and really showed their grit to push through those in this race. The men losing our number 2 and one of our senior leaders just 48 hours before the meet was a tough pill to swallow, but they still went out and left it all on the course."

The Beavers now have two weeks to prepare as they will close out the season at the Great Lakes Regional meeting on the same course on Saturday, Nov. 16.

-BEAVERS-