Grace Cross Country Gets Conference Preview In South Bend
October 12, 2019 at 3:52 a.m.
Grace Cross Country Gets Conference Preview In South Bend
By Josh Neuhart-
The men’s team placed 10th out of 16 teams while the women were 12th out of 20.
“I’m really happy for both the men and women today. Weslea Arthur and the majority of our men’s team tempo-ran this race as a controlled workout to get a feel for the course, and they did a great job with the paces we asked them to hit,” said Grace head coach Jake Poyner. “Suzi, Elizabeth and Rebekah all ran great races, and it was wonderful to have Mallory back after dealing with health issues.”
On the women’s side, Heather Plastow finished 31st out of 217 runners with a time of 19:48.
Suzanne Sickafoose was second for the Lady Lancers at 20:24, and Elizabeth Moore was next at 20:53.
Rebekah Rexroth crossed the finish line in 21:31, Weslea Arthur finished in 21:44, and Mallory Aker ended the race in 21:58.
The men’s team finished in a tight pack. Carter Meyer (27:52.8), Bryan Hernandez-Rios (27:52.9), Ben Rankin (27:53.3) and Isaac Beatty (27:53.5) incredibly all finished less than a second apart.
Dimitri Margaritidis was not far behind at 28:07, and Jonathan Balda was next at 28:38.
Logan Rufenacht (28:59), Dakota Thompson (29:00), John Marhefka (29:20), Zach Johnson (29:46), and Alex Brummett (29:48) rounded out the men’s squad.
“Zach Johnson took solid steps in the right direction after wrestling with injury earlier this season. Life as a competitive distance runner can be challenging when obstacles like injury and illness arise — it almost never seems fair, and it never occurs at the ‘right time.’ So we’ve talked a lot of being resilient and positive in how we heal up and return to competition,” Poyner continued. “Today really showcased that for a few of our runners, and I’m really proud of them for how their character and commitment to excellence was displayed.”
The Lancers’ next race is the Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 26.
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The men’s team placed 10th out of 16 teams while the women were 12th out of 20.
“I’m really happy for both the men and women today. Weslea Arthur and the majority of our men’s team tempo-ran this race as a controlled workout to get a feel for the course, and they did a great job with the paces we asked them to hit,” said Grace head coach Jake Poyner. “Suzi, Elizabeth and Rebekah all ran great races, and it was wonderful to have Mallory back after dealing with health issues.”
On the women’s side, Heather Plastow finished 31st out of 217 runners with a time of 19:48.
Suzanne Sickafoose was second for the Lady Lancers at 20:24, and Elizabeth Moore was next at 20:53.
Rebekah Rexroth crossed the finish line in 21:31, Weslea Arthur finished in 21:44, and Mallory Aker ended the race in 21:58.
The men’s team finished in a tight pack. Carter Meyer (27:52.8), Bryan Hernandez-Rios (27:52.9), Ben Rankin (27:53.3) and Isaac Beatty (27:53.5) incredibly all finished less than a second apart.
Dimitri Margaritidis was not far behind at 28:07, and Jonathan Balda was next at 28:38.
Logan Rufenacht (28:59), Dakota Thompson (29:00), John Marhefka (29:20), Zach Johnson (29:46), and Alex Brummett (29:48) rounded out the men’s squad.
“Zach Johnson took solid steps in the right direction after wrestling with injury earlier this season. Life as a competitive distance runner can be challenging when obstacles like injury and illness arise — it almost never seems fair, and it never occurs at the ‘right time.’ So we’ve talked a lot of being resilient and positive in how we heal up and return to competition,” Poyner continued. “Today really showcased that for a few of our runners, and I’m really proud of them for how their character and commitment to excellence was displayed.”
The Lancers’ next race is the Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 26.
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