Pair of Top 20 Runners Highlight Bison Efforts at Bethany Invitational
Sept. 10 - BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College women's cross country team placed one runner in the top 10 and the men's team had one finish in the top 20 to highlight the programs' efforts at the 2016 Bethany Invitational Saturday morning.
The women's team placed 12th out of 15 teams at the Invitational, which featured eight Division II programs. The top runner for the Bison was freshman Kathrin Lehnert (Crailsheim, Germany/Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium), who finished the 6K course in 24:33 to earn ninth place out of 156 runners.
The next BC runner to cross the finish line was senior Ashley Worst (Apollo, Pa./Apollo-Ridge), who came in 61st place. Also competing for Bethany on Saturday was senior Alexis Naples (Youngstown, Ohio/South Range), junior Gabrielle Goudy (Powhaten Point, River) and senior Shelva Burns (Weirton, W.Va./Weir).
Oberlin (Ohio) College took home first place as a team with 29 points to easily outdistance California (Pa.) University, who was second with 65 points. California did boast the top individual, as Summer Hill took home first place honors with a blistering time of 22:43.
For Bethany's men, sophomore Jordan Castro (Wahiawa, Hawaii/Leilehua) was the first Bison to complete the 8K course, as his time of 29:31 placed him 18th overall out of 114 runners. Sophomore Alex Michalenko (Moon Township, Pa./OLSH) came across next for BC, taking 53rdplace.
Rounding out the Bison competitors Saturday were junior Austin Davis (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua), junior Robert Newhart (Shadyside, Ohio), freshman John Sadar (Piney Park, Ohio/Buckeye Local) and sophomore Mark Tichenor (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood).
Led by three of the top six finishers, Division II Davis & Elkins was the top team at the Invitational, scoring 36 points to finish in front of Oberlin, who had 65 points. The individual winner came from Ohio Valley University, as Alex Kitony broke the tape in 27:25 to win first place.
Bethany's teams will be back on the courses next weekend when they compete at the Saint Vincent Invitational.
