Sarah Hawbaker
Lindsborg News Record

Despite slick, muddy conditions, the Bethany College women's cross country team completed their first meet of the season Sept. 1 at Baker University in Baldwin City.

Bethany's Head Cross Country Coach, Robert Spies, said that while his Swedes ran well, there is much room for improvement as the team conditioning becomes better through the season.

He added that inexperience also is an issue as many team members were over-anxious and ran too fast through the first mile, "which came back to bite them toward the back end of their races."

"This is a learning experience for the team and with the first meet out of the way, they will settle in and work toward more consistent races," Spies said.

Freshman Kylee Martinez, Lyons, Kan., had a strong finish as she led the Swede women to a 25^th place finish. There were 73 total runners.

Assistant Coach Aaron Yoder said the team will be looking to add freshman Nichol Hammon, Topeka, Kan., and Brianna Madden to the squad soon.

"The course was slow so we just focused on competing and picking off runners the whole race and finishing with focus and strength," Yoder said.

Though it was still raining for the start of the men's race at Baker, the temperature did rise a bit.

Yoder said the men ran in two strong sub-packs.

"The second mile was tough for us but we all finished strong," Yoder said.

Junior Jordan Dahlke, Holyrood, Kan., took the top spot for the men, narrowly missing placing as an individual.

The men placed sixth as a team.

"We showed a lot of heart by coming back strong on the last mile for most of our runners," Yoder said.

Both teams head to the Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo. on Sept. 15. The women will run a 5K while the men will run an 8k race.