The Men's and Women's Cross Country teams are back in action this weekend when they travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan to compete in the NJCAA Region XII and MCCAA Championships. The Skippers utilized this past weekend to rest as they have their focus on a much larger task this weekend. Both the Men's and Women's teams have been ranked Nationally in the NJCAA Division II rankings from the very start of the season.

For the women, their highest ranking of the year was the first poll where they came in at number 11 in the nation. In the most recent rankings from October 19th, they were ranked 15th in the nation. The Skippers have been a well-balanced squad throughout the year. In their last competition their 1st- 6th runners were all within a minute of each other. Freshmen Beth Baldwin and Elizabeth Sliman led the pack as they finished with times of (26:51.4) and (26.59.3) respectively. It's important to note that it was the first time any member of the team had run a 6k. 

On the men's side, their highest ranking of the year was also in the initial poll where they were ranked 8th in the nation. After dropping to 11 in the second poll the men were bumped up to 10th in the nation in the most recent ranking. In their last race, the men placed 10th out of 18 teams and saw 5 personal records and a season best performance. This included 5 men cracking the Skippers All-Time Top 10 list, including Sophomore-standout Travis Katz and Freshman newcomer Ethan McCombs both breaking the previous school record with times of (26:37.3) and (26:48.7) respectively. Similar to the women, the men had their 1st-5th finishers within a minute of each other.

With having time to recover after great performances at the Bradley Pink Invite the Skippers and their well-balanced squads are ready to get after the competition this Saturday in Grand Rapids.