Ivanna Sabino, Sports Information Assistant
Louisville, Kentucky –On Saturday, October 5th, the Berea women's cross-country team raced at one of the most highly attended college cross country events in the US. This highly competitive race takes places at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, known as the Greater Louisville Classic. Berea women competed in both the blue race and the silver, pre-nationals race. In the Silver race, the team placed 26th, beating all conference teams in the race, with an average 3.9K time of 15:39. Only 4 individuals competed in the blue race, and therefor did not qualify for a team score.
For the Silver race, senior Jamie Welch was the first Mountaineer to finish, crossing the 3.9K mark in 68th place with a time of 14:46. Sophomore Mary Beth Melhuish was the second Berea runner to cross the line, finishing in a time of 15:39. Senior Hayley Clark finishing close behind in 15:49, and junior Ivanna Sabino in 15:53. The last scorer for the women was junior Rachel Melstead, crossing at 16:07. Senior Jenna Hughes finished in a time 16:12, rounding off with sophomore Bethany Bigler at 16:30. The women competed against some of the best division III schools in the country.
In the blue race, senior Caitlyn Roberts was the first to cross the finish line with a 5k time of 20:54. Following Roberts, junior Tylan Eastham crossed the finish in a time of 21:51. Freshman Diana Espinoza then finished with a time of 23:09, followed by junior Brittany Ortiz-Perez with a 24:49.
Later this week, on Friday, October 11th, the Mountaineers are traveling to Wilmington College to compete in the Jenna Strong invitational.