Lansing, MI - The Grace Christian University cross country teams raced against tough competition at Lansing Community College for the "Lansing Invite" on Friday.  In their hottest meet of the season, the Tigers put up a strong fight against Ferris State University, Davenport University, Alma College, Rochester Christian, and nine other schools.

Senior Maty Deneui (Fenton, MI) led the women's team with a confident and solid race, finishing 36th overall in a time of 23:13.  Shortly behind in 43rd place was freshman Sayla Bender (Kingsley, MI) who continues to be consistently strong for the Tigers.  Freshman Lily Anderson (Pickford, MI) was the 3rd runner for the Tigers, running yet another new lifetime personal best time of 25:02.  Freshman Grace Salminen (Traverse City, MI) rounded out the results for the women's team in a time of 28:15.

For the men, sophomore Ian Hinkle (Grand Ledge, MI) led the Tigers across the line in a time of 30:53.  Freshman Caleb Anderson (Wyoming, MI) had been running with Hinkle but struggled in the final mile of the race.  Anderson was able to persevere and crossed the line in 31:47.  Sophomore Jude Vargo (Penn Hills, PA) earned a new personal record in the 8k, dropping over a minute from his previous best time, in 37:13.  Freshman Marshall Gonzalez battled the heat and held off the competitors around him in the race, ending with a time of 45:32. 

With the luxury of the women's team having already qualified for Nationals, the Tigers were able to rest some of their runners on Friday after four straight weeks of racing.  They will now have a couple weeks off from racing to focus on training in order to prepare for their last regular season meet of the year at Muskegon Community College on October 11.