Drew, McClellan Lead Grace
WINONA LAKE – The Grace College cross country teams hosted its only home meet of the season on Saturday with the Lancer Invitational at Miller Field.
Both the men’s and women’s team earned top-10 finishers, including Ben Drew for the men and Jenna McClellan for the women.
The Lady Lancers finished second out of seven teams as they topped three opponents from the Crossroads League (Goshen, Mt. Vernon Nazarene, St. Francis).
McClellan’s time of 20:31 was good enough for ninth place, and freshmen Tara Hamstra (11th place, 20:35) and Creigh Ogle (13th place, 20:51) were not far behind.
Grace earned three other spots in the top 25 as Marina Ramirez, Alexis Nelson and Megan Gast finished with seconds of each other.
“With freshmen making up five of our top seven runners, I thought we had a very solid race,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “We finished in front of three other conference teams, so that’s nice to see.”
On the men’s side, Grace finished third out of seven teams. They finished behind race winners Goshen and second-place Huntington, but they beat CL foes St. Francis and Mt. Vernon Nazarene.
Drew placed sixth in the race with a time of 27:05, and Collin Chupp ran 27:45 to grab 14th place.
Tim Trapp was third for Grace in a time of 28:40, Jonathan Rex was one second behind him in 23rd place, and Corban Wyatt rounded out Grace’s top five with a time of 29:57.
“Ben [Drew] ran a very good race, hitting a new personal-best time, while Collin [Chupp] was very solid in his first collegiate 8k race,” Raymond said. “We still need to close up some of the gaps we have, but overall I was pleased. It was great to have a home meet, and we were pleased with how things turned. The weather was great, and it was nice to see so many fans supporting our athletes.”
The Lancers’ next meet is the Indiana Intercollegiates on Sept. 14.