By: Connor Gulick, Head Cross Country Coach

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Beavers hit the road south down Interstate 75 for the HCAC Championships at Transylvania University and the Beavers left everything they had out on the track and runways.

The men finished 9th and leading the way was freshman Quince Reese (Killeen, Texas/Ellison) who had himself a weekend, finishing 2nd in the 400 hurdles with a time of 56.94, shaving over two seconds from before the weekend and he PR'd in both the prelim and the final while earning 2nd Team All-HCAC in the event. Reese also had a 4th place finish in the 110 hurdles with another PR of 15.74. Then he teamed up with Freshman Jordyn Diaz (Ypsilanti, Mich.), senior Nolan Mills (Louisville, KY/Meade County) and sophomore Hassan Greene (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Snyder) in the 4x100 which finished 7th with a time of 45.12. The team then wrapped up the day in the 4x400, securing 8th place with a time of 3:40.46. Diaz had a big PR in the 400 hurdles, running 1:04.95.

The jumps squad also had themselves a day as Greene and Mills both had PR's in long jump with marks of 6.32 and 6.25 meters, respectively. Greene then came back on Day 2 in the triple jump, taking 5th place with a mark of 12.87 meters which was an outdoor best for him.

In the throws, senior Coen North (Denver, Col./North) added another medal to his collection in the javelin, earning a 2nd place finish with a mark of 56.12 meters and with it 2nd team All-HCAC. Freshman Tony Smith (Toledo/Sylvania Southview) competed in the shot put and finished with a mark of 10.14 meters.

The women's team finished 10th and they were led by the duo of sophomore Sara Smith (Mansfield/Madison Comprehensive) in the distance events and junior Amelia Adams (Celina) in the jumps. Making her steeplechase debut, Smith was able to secure a 3rd place finish, earning All-HCAC Honorable Mention with a time of 12.06.78 which also broke the school record! Smith also secured points in the 1500-meter run on Day 2 which was good for a 7th place finish with a PR time of 5:00.96. Smith took 8th in the 5000-meter run with a time of 19:31.99. Adams secured a pair of 5th place finishes in the high jump with a height of 1.48 meters and pole vault with a height of 2.78 meters. She also tied for 6th in long jump with mark of 4.85 meters which was a PR for her.

Junior Sharon Keefer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) wrapped up her season with another PR in the 200 (28.92).

Senior Ella Myers (McClure/Patrick Henry) represented the throws group and just missed making finals in the javelin, finishing 10th with a mark of 24.08 meters.

We will have some athletes competing in last chance meets throughout the month of May in pursuit of making nationals.

-BEAVERS-