The Men's Cross Country Team had redemption on their minds this weekend after placing 5th at their home conference meet two weeks ago and having two of their top five guys step off the course due to injury. Redemption is exactly what they achieved, as the Skipper's placed 1st at the Charger Invitational hosted by Marion University's Ancilla College.
The wet and soggy conditions of a rough footed 8k course didn't stop 6 of the 7 Skippers from posting personal records. Glen Davis ran away from the field winning the race with a PR of 25:35.8. This breaks his own school record by 15 seconds. Matt LaFreniere placed 3rd overall, running a 58 second PR with a time of 26:23.4. This bumps him up to 2nd on the SC4 All Time List. Michael Paoletti dropped 45 seconds off his previous record, placing 4th overall. Paoletti is now 3rd on the SC4 All Time List. Back from injury, Logan Cooper was the team's 4th man placing 12th overall. Cooper set a 30 second PR with a time of 27:46.7. Rounding out the top 5 was Mason Wildie with a time of 28:26.6. This is a 19 second PR for Wildie. Devin Dudley ran as the team's sixth man posting a huge PR by 2:47 with a time of 30:18.7. Joe Edgemon posted a time of 31:27.4, only 25 seconds off his personal record.
When asked what it felt like to lead the entire race Davis responded, "Some people view leading the whole race as a challenge because having nobody to work with can be tough, but I think it really shows you how tough you are mentally when you are up there all alone trying to continue to push your own pace and holding off the rest of the field, so I live for the challenge and love to win." In regard to the course conditions Davis stated, "The course was tough but me and the guys embraced it today and didn't use it as an excuse. Shout-out to Matt and Mike as well, becoming 2nd and 3rd in school history. It feels great being able to continue to get after it with them and have success."
The Skipper's will take the next two weeks to prepare for the MCCAA Conference and the NJCAA Region XII Championship. Both races are hosted by Grand Rapids Community College on Friday, October 27th at Douglas Walker Park.
Full results
