By: Landry Long | Contributor
The Taylor men's and women's cross country teams both offered an impressive preview of what's to come in their opening races at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational this past Friday.
The men's team took home a third-place finish behind Bethel and Indiana Wesleyan, while the women's team battled to a victory, winning the meet by seven points.
Despite the men's team struggles with sickness, the No. 11 Trojans were still able to run their fastest time in several years, with ten runners turning in lifetime PRs.
The No. 9 women's team entered the course returning four of their top seven runners, and were able to post several fast times. Their performance has since lifted the women's team to a No. 8 ranking.
Junior Matt Hall and sophomore Alex Berends both took advantage of the fast course. While Hall crossed the finish line at second overall with a personal best time of 25:14, Berends clocked in at 17:50, setting not only personal and course records, but finishing just one second off of school record.
"I was pretty happy with it," said Hall. "I went out a little bit more conservatively just because it was the first race. I had been feeling a little bit of fatigue like the last two weeks from a lot of training, but after the race it gave me a lot of confidence."
"We had good weather, we had a flat course, so you don't want to miss an opportunity like that to PR," said Berends.
Both teams spike up again today at the Indiana Intercollegiate in Terre Haute, Indiana. Races start at 3:15 p.m.
Photograph provided by TU Sports Information Department website
