Hours were passed, babies cried, and records were broken. That’s right, at this past Cr
oss Country NAIA Great Lakes Challenge hosted by Aquinas College, junior Ellie Willging not only led the women’s cross country team to a 4th place finish, but also won the 5K race with a record setting time of 17:48. This is no small feat as this was a tournament that hosted 25 of the toughest teams in the NAIA division. Not only this, but Willging beat out 273 other runners, a simply amazing day for her. Senior Nicole Watkins also had an amazing outing as she finished in the top 10 with a time of 18:38. Overall, this was an amazing outing for Ellie Willging and the women’s cross team.
Unfortunately, the men could not reciprocate the winning ways of the women’s team as they finished 17th out of 25 total teams. Despite the disappointing finish in the tournament, junior Abel Hernandez had a good outing. Hernandez finished 32nd out of 302 total runners. Freshman Gabriel Esparza was next in line finishing 59th in the 8K with a new personal-best running time of 26:37.
Both teams will resume competition on Saturday, November 5th as they look to compete in the CCAC Cross Country Championship.
Will Willging and the women’s team continue to run rough shot? Will the men get it together? To have those questions answered and get a recap of the upcoming event keep it locked here at the Xavierite.
-Kenneth Washington Sports Writer