On September 7, 2007, the men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Lake Afton Park in Goddard, KS, to compete in the first meet of the season.  Leading the way was junior Nhial Malia of Highlands, TX, for the men and junior RaChelle Gaylord of Easton, MO, for the women.

 

Bethany Team Recap  - Men's Overall Results - Women's Overall Results

 

For the men, Malia, who was 25th, was 30 seconds from running a personl best in the 8K race as he finished with a time of 28:53.70.  Following him was junior Phil Elbein, of Overland Park, KS (54th in 30:22.12); junior Hugo Escobar, who was less than 20 seconds from running a personal best, of Emporia, KS (68th in 30:49.79); sophomore Adam Rains of Lakin, KS (108th in 39:35.81); and senior Derek Bartlett of Colorado Springs, CO (111th in 42:59.46).

 

Gaylord, who was 42nd in the women's 5K race with a time of 22:47.49, was joined by freshman Morgan Salter of Holcomb, KS (69th in 24:32.33), and junior Priyanka Dixit of Kathmandu, Nepal (80th in 25:124.87), who were also running their first collegiate races of their careers.  Sophomores Stephanie Wilson of Pomona, KS (85th in 26:00.04) and Gilda Alvarez of Yuma, AZ (90th in 27:26.00), also completed the team scoring for the women.