Bethany College cross country competed at the Ottawa University Invitational on Friday, Oct 19. The team competed well on a hilly course with a lot of twists and turns.

The men's team finished second overall. Sophomore Jeremiah Gerardy had his first top three finish as a collegiate athlete with a third place time of 28:13. Assistant Coach Aaron Yoder said he ran a very gritty race. James Farris finished in seventh place with a 28:37 and Jordan Dahlke was close behind in  eighth place with a 28:39. Also competing were James Vieyra (30:51), William Nez (32:55) and Steven Ortiz (36:13).

"The point of this meet was to prepare for the conference championships and I feel we competed well as a team and as individuals," says Yoder.

Head Cross Country Coach Robert Spies adds, "Going into this race, Coach Yoder and I knew that everyone's legs were still not underneath them yet however the team as a whole did much better staying mentally strong as each fought off the demon of doubt which can creep up on runners toward the later part of the race."

Individually for the women Kylee Martinez placed 25^th with a 23:23. Joanna Roberts ran a 27:45.

Yoder says, "Our women were going into the meet with tired legs and a smaller squad but still competed tough the whole race. Although times were slow, the objective was to get familiar and comfortable with the conference course."

Two weeks from now the team will return to the same course for the KCAC Championships on Nov. 3. Spies says they will be looking forward "to another crack" at this challenging course.

He adds, "The end of the season is here and it is time for the team to pull everything together by working as a unified unit focused on encouragement toward one another and having clear commitment to the goal at hand, always expecting to improve and to become a better team."