By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant

OBERLIN, Ohio- On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Beavers had a loaded course to race with at Oberlin College's annual Inter-Regional Rumble. With 282 women and 299 men finishing their races, many of the athletes reported that they were constantly running alongside others throughout the race. With this being Homecoming Weekend at Bluffton University, the meet served as a kickoff for a fun and busy weekend.

At 10:30 a.m., the women's 6k race took off. Leading the Beavers on Saturday was junior Brooke Barnes (Ashland/Crestview), completing an excellent race and earning a season best time of 27:16. Coming in second for Bluffton was sophomore Sammie Unger (Kenton), crossing the line while setting a season best of 28:25. Following Unger was her teammate Miranda Billman (Castalia/Margaretta), coming across the line third for the Beavers with a time of 30:20. The women's team only had three women representing Bluffton on Saturday, so they did not score as a team.

Following the end of the women's race, the starting gun sounded signifying the start of the men's 8k race at 11:15. Crossing the line first for the Beavers was sophomore Cole Kropka (New London), finishing a hard race with a time of 27:43. Placing second for Bluffton was junior Ethan Ly (Celina), earning a time of 28:33. Not too far behind, Ly's teammate Alex Montross (Perrysburg) finished the race with a time of 29:00. Two of the men raced new personal records this weekend. Junior Zach Boch (Lancaster) had an excellent race, setting a new PR of 29:18. The lone senior Morgan Adams (Dublin/Coffman) flew across the line, setting a new PR of 31:09. The men's team placed 29th overall at the big meet.

"I think this was an eye-opening experience for us," said Head Coach Gulick. "This was the biggest meet we have run this season, but I thought the team did well at handling that. We still have some good quality training we can get in over these next few weeks before we return to the Nature Preserve for HCAC Championships."

The Beavers have two more weeks of training before giving it their all against the conference competition on their own home turf. Bluffton University is excited to host the HCAC Championship meet on Saturday, Oct. 29.

-BEAVERS-