Covenant women in action
photo by Covenant College athletics
The Covenant cross country teams had solid showings at the Maryville College Invitational on Saturday morning. The women placed third out of 13 teams, while the men were second out of eight teams.
On the women's side, the team finished in third behind a tough Berry team and Division II opponent Converse.
Covenant was led by a third place finish from Beth Burgess as she finished the 6k in a time of 24:39.22 after leading for part of the race. Ruthie Cargill was ninth with a time of 25:48.38, while Abby Irwin placed 14th at 26:33.89.
Jordan Francis (27:23.63) and Grace Bodron (27:36.61) finished 24th and 26th, respectively.
"Overall we raced well today," said head coach Katie Stanford. "The girls were very close to Berry and that is awesome. We were more spread out today than we usually are so that hurt us a little."
On the men's side, it was Eliot Kaufmann again leading the way as he placed third with a time of 27:47 in the 8k. Graham Massot was eighth after finishing in 28:32, while Stephen Dillon was 15th with a time of 29:19. Jack Williams ran the course in 30:03 to finish in 20th and John Weaks was Covenant's fifth finisher at 30:23 for 22nd place overall.
"The guys raced really well and had a great team finish," added Stanford. "Berry is strong and we knew they were going to be tough to beat so I am pleased with second place."
Berry won the men's event with five runners in the top 10. Full results to be posted soon.
Covenant will be back in action in two weeks at the Berry College Viking Open.
Stephen Dillon
photo by Covenant College athletics