The Covenant cross country teams were back on the course on Saturday after taking a weekend off last Saturday. The women placed sixth out of 12 teams, while the men finished fourth of seven at the University of North Georgia Invitational.
The women were led by another strong showing from junior Ruthie Cargill as she set a new personal best in the 5k with a time of 20:37.9 to finish in 20th place overall. Margaret Fitch was 26th with her time of 21:08 and Grace Bodron (21:24) and Anna Hankal (21:29) were 29th and 30th, respectively.
Rounding out the top five Covenant finishers was Jordan Francis' time of 21:48.
Covenant was competing without senior Beth Burgess who was attending medical school interviews this weekend in Kentucky.
"The girls were without Beth today which hurt us a bit with the team score but we had some great races individually," said head coach Katie Stanford. "Ruthie continued her improvement and set another personal best. We had a few with rough races but others who stepped right in and picked us back up."
The host North Georgia took the event as they placed five runners inside the top 10. Covenant bested Division III schools Oglethorpe and Agnes Scott in the meet.
On the men's side, Eliot Kaufmann continued his strong start to the year as he finished ninth with an 8k time of 27:29, just three seconds off his best 8k run of the year. Graham Massot and Stephen Dillon finished 17th and 18th, respectively, with times of 28:30 and 28:31 apiece. John Weaks was 24th with a personal record of 29:28, while Jack Williams was 35th with a time of 30:20. Phil Moore also had a personal best time of 31:02 as he finished 39th.
"I am very pleased with our fourth place finish on the guy's side," continued Stanford. "We were right were we expected to be."
Dalton State took the men's team title with 25 points and four top 10 finishers.
Covenant will be back in action next Saturday when they compete in the Maryville Invitational. Women's event begins at 9:15 a.m., while the men go at 10:15.
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information.
Women's Results (5k):
20th - Ruthie Cargill - 20:38
26th - Margaret Fitch - 21:08
29th - Grace Bodron - 21:24
30th - Anna Hankal - 21:29
38th - Jordan Francis - 21:48
39th - Abby Irwin - 21:48
46th - Esther Anderson - 22:07
65th - Julia Price - 23:23
82nd - Sarah Jo Griffith - 25:58
Men's Results (8k)
9th - Eliot Kaufmann - 27:29
17th - Graham Massot - 28:30
18th - Stephen Dillon - 28:31
24th - John Weaks - 29:28
35th - Jack Williams - 30:20
37th - Eliot Gardner - 30:46
39th - Phil Moore - 31:02
54th - Justin Jantomaso - 31:52
59th - Charles Taylor - 32:38
63rd - Zach Atchison - 33:49
64th - Caleb McKillop - 34:02