GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Grace's cross country teams had their final tune-up race of the regular season on Saturday.
The Lancers raced against some of the best teams in the NAIA at the Great Lakes Challenge, competing against a plethora of ranked opponents.
Grace's women's team placed third in one of the highest-profile races of the regular season. In the race, the Lancers trailed only the No. 1 and No. 8-ranked teams in the NAIA while finishing faster than seven Top-25 teams (No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 11 Marian, No. 12 Aquinas, No. 16 Olivet Nazarene, No. 17 Montana Tech, No. 20 Carroll, No. 22 Lewis-Clark State).
Grace's team time of 1:32:52 marked the second-fastest team time in team history, a feat made even more incredible with Grace missing two of its top runners.
The ladies had six runners finish under 19 minutes, led by Cece Mitchell. The junior earned a 13th-place finish in the race, crossing the finish line in 18:15.2.
Morgan Welch was within range of Mitchell, placing 22nd overall at 18:24.0. Leah Emch also grabbed a top-25 showing at 18:31.3 (25th).
Addison Grady (18:48.1), Grace Geller (18:54.2) and Grace Pettit (18:57.2) also ran sub-19 times, and Cassandra Cross rounded out the squad's top-seven finishers at 19:23.0. Grace put six runners in the first 52 finishers.
"Our ladies ran together and executed as a team, staying strong and encouraging each other throughout the races. We had loads of PRs on a fantastic course," said Grace head coach Brian Dewey.
Grace's men also showed marked improvement in a loaded field. They produced their fastest team time of the year (2:09:01), earning a top-10 team time in team history as well.
Brady Hunsberger led the charge for the men's squad; he finished at 25:32.1 for 64th place.
Austin Wilson was eight seconds behind Hunsberger, producing a time of 25:40.1, and Cole Johnston was not far behind at 25:51.5.
Luis Loera (25:57.8) and John Young (26:00.7) were three seconds apart, and they were followed by Hunter Quadlin (26:25.9) and Reid Sollars (26:38.1).
"Many of the men's teams ran their best races of the season today. We were just a little off on a number of spots where a few different results could have completely changed the outcome of the day. We still hit a number of PRs, which is encouraging, and we looked much closer to the squad that we can be," Dewey added.
The Lancers will now turn their attention to the postseason, beginning with the 2025 Crossroads League Championships on Nov. 7 in Marion, Ind.
RACE RESULTS
