Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams Qualify for Nationals
In a season characterized by many obstacles and adversities, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams still qualified for the first time in school history for the National Christian College Athletic Association’s National Meet in Point Lookout, Missouri, on November 10.
Head coach Kendall Haynes, a former Rams runner and second year coach, defined this season as a roller-coaster ride.
“Most of the races during the season we didn’t even have our fastest guys running all together,” said Coach Haynes.
Not until near the end of the season did they even have a full healthy women’s team. Needing five runners to complete a competition team, “a lot of times, (they) only had three or four girls” to run, said the coach.
Junior Jordyn O’Saben is one of the female runners who had struggled with an injury throughout the season.
“It (was) really hard trying to get through the season, but I (didn’t) want to let (my injury) stop me from doing well or anything,” she said.
Despite the injuries and limited runners, the season came together in a positive way at the end. Freshman Garrett Wright said he is proud of the team and Coach Haynes for making it to Nationals.
“I personally figured it would take me long (to reach Nationals), but I’ve been working hard for it,” said Wright. “At first, I was struggling, but then I got used to work at the college level.”
The women’s cross country team representing Bluefield College at the NCCAA National Meet in Missouri included Adrina Duncan-Brown, Cami Cook, Abigail Key, Kenzie Marshall, Psalm Menlenberg, Brittany Mueller, Jordyn O’Saben, and Madison Thompson. The men’s cross country team at Nationals included Evan Abbey, Mark Batoon, Gavin Baner, Austin Eatmon, Gustavo Gomez, Michael Gutu, Tanaka Rushwaya, and Garret Wright.
At the National Meet, Abbey and Wright were the first two Bluefield College men runners to finish with times of 31:04.91 and 31:44.51, respectively. In the women’s competition, Marshall was the first Lady Ram to cross the finish line with a time of 23:00.79. Being the first time for both teams reaching Nationals, Coach Kendall said he was realistic about his expectations.
“The goal this year (was) to go get some experience at the National Meet, try to take a couple of teams and just go out and run our best,” said Coach Haynes. “At the end of the day, that’s all we can do.”