Last week, both the men and women’s cross-country team competed in the Bethel College meet held in Indiana. Both teams performed well, with some added individual performances that were spectacular.
Women
The women had a tougher time at the tournament as they competed against 18 total teams (4 more teams than the men). Out of these teams, SXU finished sixth behind four of the runners finishing within the top 50.
One of these runners, to no one’s surprise, was junior Ellie Willging. Willging continues her special season by adding a second first-place finish to her resume. Not only this, but Ellie was the only runner to finish the race in 18 minutes.
As if her performance wasn’t amazing enough, Willging’s time of 17:44 was a new course record. With this performance, Willging continues to establish herself as part of the upper echelon of runners in the conference, and maybe even in the state.
Willging wasn’t the only top performer, senior Sierra Downey also had an amazing performance. Downey finished with a time of 19:20.5 good enough to land her as the 30th runner to finish.
What makes this performance even more special was the fact that this was a season best running time for Downey. Similarly, sophomore Grace Maletich (46th; 19:47) and junior Rachal Brooks (53rd; 19:56) finished with new season highs that helped propel SXU to one of the top finishes in the tournament.
Men
The men’s cross-country team faced off against 14 teams, and out of these 14 teams SXU placed in 8th. Despite the tough finish, the men’s cross-country team had some individual performances to be proud of.
Senior Alan Guzman lead the way for the team finishing the race with a time of 25:18.9 (.8 shy of the number 1 spot) good enough to slot him into the second place slot. Alan Guzman like Ellie Willging, is the leader of this team who fuels the team behind record setting performances. Last season was filled with first place finishes, career-best times, and NAIA level performances for Guzman and with this being his last season, Guzman is going to want to enjoy the same success, plus a lot more.
Moving on to some other solid performances, senior Abel Hernandez finished the race with a time of 25:52.9 and sophomore Gabriel Esparaza finished the race in 26:11.5. Both men finished within the top 20, solid finishes that contributed heavily to the team’s success.
The two teams are both led by extraordinary talent who have experienced a great mass of success. The problem is not the leadership, but it’s more so the rest of the individuals holding their part. The most important thing to know about these cross-country meets or any other team oriented event is that one individual can’t do it all, it takes a whole heap of individuals all assimilating into a role in order for the team to succeed.
Let’s hope with the future cross-country meets we can still see record-breaking individual performances on top of some record-breaking team performances.
For future recaps of events and happenings around campus, keep it locked here at the Xavierite.
Kenneth Washington
Sports Reporter
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