Chicago, ILL. - The Bluffton College cross country teams were in action this weekend at the Lakefront Invitational hosted by Loyola University. The large meet featured teams from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, NJCAA, and Canada. With over 500 runners in each race the Beaver harriers experienced their most physical race of the season. The Bluffton men's team finished 27th place out of 34 non-division I teams and the Bluffton women finished 27th out of 35 non-division I teams.
The women took advantage of the mid-50 degree temperature and partly cloudy sky first. Leading the Beavers this week was sophomore Lauren Borga with a 21:05, good for 269th place becoming the third different athlete to finish
first in as many meets for the Bluffton women. Next in for BC was Carrie Hudecek who had a solid race coming off injury running a 21:10 for 268th place. Running third for Bluffton was Lauren Bailey in her most impressive performance on the year finishing in 305th place in 21:21. Finishing the scoring for the Beavers was Jennifer Creamer in 21:44, 342nd place, and Jennifer Niedermier in 365th place, running a 21:57. Also running for BC was Rachel Noirot (422nd/22:33), Lindsay Bryant (460th/23:07), and Alicia Stanko (503rd/24:28).
The men also had good weather to run in as they stepped up to the starting line. BC put the most runners on the line since their first meet of the year. Freshman Jordon Bruner, running his first collegiate 8k race showed his level of talent leading the Beavers and running a 28:11, earning him 293rd. Following Bruner was Andy Schiefer, finishing in 298th place in 28:15, and Dave Espinoza, in 28:19 for 305th place. Finishing up the scoring for the Beavers was Patrick Cooley with his personal-best time of 28:48, 337th place, and Johnny Ichrist with a 30:18, 421st place, in his first 8k of his career. Also running for the Bluffton men was Chris Wojciechowski (430th/30:31) and Kitt Lashley (455th/31:11). .
"I guess neither team is ready yet," said head coach Derek Stanley, "We had some good individual performances, but we just can't put it together as a team. I must commend Jordon (Bruner) for a wonderful effort as well as Carrie (Hudecek) running tough off of injury and a gutsy performance by (Lauren) Bailey, who continues to improve each week," Stanley added.
The Beavers are in competition again next weekend at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday, October 10. The women race at 2pm and the men at 2:45pm. The women's open race follows the men's championship at 3:30pm and the men's open is at 4:15pm.