The Garrett College Laker cross country team competed on Sunday, October 17 at the LaRoche University Redhawk Invitational with some excellent performances. The demanding up and down 5k course did not keep first year runner, Jack Bradley (Northern Garrett, MD) from challenging the front runners. After starting the first loop in the back of the pack, Bradley worked his way up to the third spot and held that position through to the finish line, recording a time of 23:31.49. Josh Hamilton of Mount Aloysius edged teammate, Michael Nagle for the top spot with a time of 21:26.14. LaRoche won the team title with a score of 18.

Laker first year, Reillee Beeman (Mountain Ridge, MD) continued her impressive improvement by slicing another 40 seconds off her previous personal record to finish fifth with a time of 29:36.76. She has now dropped her 5k time by over seven and one-half minutes since the first meet of the year. Myah Chappell of Mount Aloysius won the race running 25:25.12.

The Laker runners used this past week to prepare for the NJCAA Region XX, MDJUCO, WPPC championships on Saturday, October 30 at Westmoreland County Community College. Coach Dale Luy is looking forward to Bradley and Beeman having a big day at the championships as both have been trending towards peak performances. "It was good to get Jack back into a meet this weekend as he looks stronger in practice each week, he has been lacking meet experience and now he has that under his belt." Beeman has slowly worked her way back to health dealing with a nagging leg injury. "Our athletic trainers, Liz Show and Britta Lais have done a great job working with Reillee to help her achieve her performance goals. Both Jack and Reillee have really responded to our practices where we have worked on running technique and race pace and strategy. If the weather cooperates, I think both runners will finish the season with a strong race."