Four members of the Bruin's men's cross country team used Saturday's Mount Marty Invite as a final tune-up for the NSAA Championship in two weeks. The Bruins were without a full squad as runners were held out to address injury issues in hopes of having them back to race in two weeks.
Fifteen men's teams took to the starting line at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, South Dakota on a crisp but sunny fall morning. The NAIA's thirteenth-ranked team, the Dordt Defenders, displayed their dominance by scoring a perfect fifteen, taking the first through fifth positions. As previously mentioned, the Bruins did not score as a team as they were a runner short.
The lack of a full team did not stop Bruin individuals from turning in some fine performances. They were led by Peyton Anthony as he joined the "sub 27" club with a personal best 26:59.4 clocking, placing him 25th in the field of 141 runners. Right behind him in 30th was Chris Casart running 27:09.6, just seconds from his season's best. Edrei Murillo was 53rd in 28:02.9 and Aaron Newton rounded out the Bruin competitors finishing 73rd with a season's best 28:40.6.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "I think it's a testament to how far this team has come when we can line up and have everyone finish in the top half of the field…or very close to that. The men have proven to be very dependable and I hope they gained confidence from today's race. The course we ran today was very flat and our conference rival Dakota State ran very well but it may be a different story in a couple of weeks when we run the hills of Platteview golf course. We've got a couple of weeks to get everybody healthy and then I think we can give them a run for a conference title."
The Bruins will host the NSAA championship meet on Friday, November 5 at the Platteview Gold Course. The women's race goes off at 10:30 followed by the men's championship at 11:30. The conference champion team and top four individuals who are not members of that team will advance to the NAIA championship on November 22 at Ft. Vancouver, Wash.
