GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grace College cross country teams enjoyed its final race in the regular season on Saturday at the Great Lakes Challenge.

The large meet featured over 160 runners in each of the men’s and women’s races.

Grace’s men’s team had an especially strong performance on Saturday. The top five runners posted the fastest combined time (team time) in the past five years.

Freshman Ben Rankin led Grace in 50th place in a time of 26:25, and Joel Bertelsen was just six spots behind him at 26:40. Both players had PR’s in the race.

Tyler Houvener finished third for Grace, and Sam Hall produced a PR two seconds behind Houvener at 27:20.

Brandon Smith crossed the finish line in 27:45, and Brendan Hamilton was sixth for Grace in 27:57.

“The men continue to improve and learn how to race,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “With our league meet in two weeks, I know we are peaking at the right time.”

For the women, Brigit Nemitz ran the fastest time of her freshman season to lead the Lady Lancers. She ended the race in 51st place in a time of 19:43.

Raven Arellano, returning from injury, finished seven seconds behind Nemitz, and Emma Mitchell was third on the team at 20:24.

McCallah Mast (20:47) and Brooke Smith (20:48) finished in a tight pack, and Jessica Zvers was sixth for Grace at 20:59.

“It was great to see Brigit [Nemitz] have a breakout race, and it was nice to have Raven [Arellano] back on the course,” Raymond said. “Our next group ran well, but I know we’ll see more from them in a couple of weeks.”

The Lancers will tackle the Crossroads League Championships on Nov. 5 at Indiana Wesleyan. The race is the climax of the cross country season.