GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Trine University men's and women's cross country teams turned in solid performances at the Calvin Knight Invitational against over 50 teams from around the region. The men's team placed 14th with 445 points while the women were 20th with 586 points.
For the men, St. Francis (IL) took the team title with 42 points among 27 teams and over 336 runners. Leading the way for the Thunder on the 8K course was freshman Austin Ganger (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka) in 28th place in a time of 25:47.7. Ganger was fourth amongst all runners from the MIAA. Senior Michael Hammond (Columbia City, Ind./Bellmont) was 98th with a time of 26:54.2. Aaron Mast finished the course in a time of 27:41.9 to finish 159th. Freshman Bennie Baker placed 196th with a time of 28:10.6. Rounding out the team scoring for Trine was freshman Garrett Benedict (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) in a time of 28:27 to place 214th.
Host Calvin took the women's title on the 5K course with a score of 40 points out of 26 teams and 316 runners. Sophomore Ariel McCoy (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) paced the Thunder in a time of 19:49.6 finishing 92nd. Sitting in 155th was sophomore Courtney Forsythe (West Mansfield, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) with a time of 20:44. Freshman Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) was just six seconds behind in 167th with a time of 20:50.3. A pair of freshmen rounded out the team scoring for Trine as Cynthia Yoder (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw Community) placed 221st with a time of 21:38.7 and Holly Wolfe (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka) came across the line in a time of 21:49.8 to finished 232nd.
Trine now travels to the University of Indiana to compete in the Indiana Intercollegiate on Sept. 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m.