By: Connor Gulick, Head Cross Country Coach

The Beavers took the short trek up Interstate 75 for the Flag City Tune-Up at Findlay as the squad made one last push with the HCAC Championships looming just one week out and everybody showed up ready to roll.

The men's squad started the day off strong with the sophomore duo of Jalen Jackson (Memphis, Tenn./Ridgeway) and Hassan Greene (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Snyder) setting the tone by hitting big PRs in long jump with leaps of 6.01 meters and 6.00 meters, respectively. They also came back later in the day and saw PRs on the sprints side as Jackson hit PR's in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.03, finishing runner up and just missing moving up to 2nd in school history, as well as in the 200 with a time of 23.59. Greene also had a PR in the 200 with time of 23.94.

Other PR's from the sprints squad were sophomore Devin Homan (Dayton/Stebbins) in the 60 with a time of 7.28, freshman Quince Reese (Killeen, Texas/Ellison) in the 60 with a time of 7.46 and the 200 with a time of 23.77, sophomore Delainta Crawford (Douglasville, Ga./Lithia Springs) in the 400 with a time of 55.49, sophomore Mathias Garcia (Fort Wayne, Ind./New Haven) in the 60 with a time of 7.58 and the 200 with a time of 24.90, senior Niegel Payne (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) in the 60 with a time of 7.58 and the 200 with a time of 24.50, sophomore Seth Bova (Bellevue) in the 60 with a time of 7.59 and the 200 with a time of 24.97, freshman Jaden Ngufor (London, Ont.) in the 200 with a time of 24.90, freshman Demari Bailey (Hiram, Ga.) in the 60 with a time of 7.66 and the 200 with a time of 24.21.

The distance squad was led by junior Micah Dodson (Wooster/Central Christian) who took on the 3k and finished in a time of 11:23.28.

In the throws, freshman Bryson Taylor (New Orleans, La./Abramson Tech Charter) led the group in shot put with a heave of 11.50 meters. Freshman Jose Garcia (Deshler/Leipsic) came out of the meet with a new PR toss of 11.41 meters.

The women's squad was led by junior Amelia Adams (Celina) as she had a pair of top 5 finishes with a 4th place showing in long jump (4.55 meters) and a 5th place finish in high jump, clearing 1.48 meters on the day.

Distance side was led by sophomore Sara Smith (Mansfield/Madison Comprehensive) with a 4th place finish in the mile with a new PR in the event with a time of 5:30.68 which moved her up to 3rd in school history in the event.

In the throws, the freshmen duo of Alana Alexander-Davis (Sandusky) and Gabrielle Taylor (Sandusky) both had throws of 7.54 in the shot put.

"Finishing up at this big meet right before conference was an amazing showing. This was a great pre-conference meet," Head Coach Chris Scott had to say on how the team performed heading into conference.

The Beavers now gear up to take on the rest of the HCAC at the Heartland Conference Championships on February 28 at Mount St. Joseph.

-BEAVERS-