By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant

SHELBYVILLE, Indiana- After a full year without having raced a normal cross-country meet, the Beavers dusted off their race day gear and kicked off the 2021 cross country season on Saturday, Sept. 4. The 2021 Franklin College Grizzly Invitational welcomed the young team composed of many freshmen and sophomores who got a taste of what a regular-season college cross country meet feels like for the first time, and four upperclassmen who are getting back into the swing of things.

On Saturday, the men's team placed 9th overall in the 8k Race. Leading the Beavers was sophomore Ethan Ly (Celina) with a time of 28:36. Freshman Adam Menser (North Ridgeville) set a PR with a time of 28:44 and sophomore Alex Montross (Perrysburg) followed suit with a time of 28:59.

In the women's 6k Race, the Beavers placed 7th overall, besting conference foes MSJ, Earlham and Hanover. Leading the women was freshman Sammie Unger (Kenton), setting a PR with a time of 26:36. Following Unger were sophomore Miranda Billman (Castalia/Margaretta) with a time of 26:49 and junior Justine Lesniewski (Mantua/Crestwood) who finished in 27:07.

New Head Coach Scott Black was pleased with the races. "This meet was a great chance for us to familiarize ourselves with a course that we'll be back to twice in the postseason. I was really happy with the effort given and it was a good starting point for us to build off of as we move forward into the season."

The Beavers have a week of training ahead of them as they prepare to race at Cedarville in the annual All-Ohio event on Friday, Sept. 17.

-BEAVERS-