Upland, IN – The Grace Christian University Cross Country teams had a big day on Friday at Taylor University’s Ray Bullock Invitational.  After a three week break from racing filled with some difficult practices and higher mileage, the Tigers responded well to the training. This was despite the temperatures at the meet soaring close to 80℉.  Other teams saw runners struggling, even not finishing the race. While Grace saw all but one of their runners on both the men’s and women’s side run season personal bests in their respective distances.

Women’s Race

For the women’s 6k race, Sayla Bender (Kingsley, MI) once again led the Tigers by dropping 41 seconds off of her previous time resulting in a new lifetime personal record of 28:07.  Aura Fleis (Republic, MI) saw a similar drop in her all-time record time, running 32 seconds faster, setting a new personal record (PR) of 31:28.  Sophomore Grace Salminen (Traverse City, MI) improved by an amazing 3 minutes in the 6k on Friday, crossing the finish line in 33:45 and, not to be out done, freshman Abigail Leon (Orlando, FL) dropped a minute and twenty seconds off of her lifetime PR, ending in a time of 37:31.

Men’s Race

For the men’s 8k, Ian Hinkle (Grand Ledge, MI) roared to life with a big race.  Hinkle set a new season best time of 29:39, which was only 15 seconds off of his lifetime PR and especially impressive under less than ideal racing temperatures.  Jude Vargo (Penn Hills, PA) ran a strong race and, although it wasn’t the time he was looking for, still crossed the line with a solid season best result of 38:40.

Then, the Tigers followed up with a meet in Muskegon where the men ran an 8k and the women ran a 6k to cap off regular season competition. A big week lies ahead, as the Tigers will travel to Minnesota for the Regional Championships!

Learn more about Grace Cross Country at gracetigers.com.