The Ball State men's and women's cross country teams finished 7th and 11th respectively this past weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational.
The men competed in the Gold division. Senior Aaron Hoover, who finished 25th with a time of 25:55, led the team. Behind Hoover were freshmen Stephen Cohen and Justin Stadt. Cohen finished 37th with a time of 26:17, and Stadt finished 46th with a time of 26:29.
"I was really happy Hoover got back up there and led the team," student assistant Michael Johnson said.
Rounding out the top-five runners for the team were senior Steve Samuel in 50th place with a time of 26:34 and freshman Jeff Kent in 60th place with a time of 26:48.
Other runners for the team were junior Zach Scherer with a time of 26:51, freshman Kevin Lister with a time of 26:58, freshman Sean Dillon with a time of 28:07 and freshman Jeremy Smith with a time of 28:43.
The men also sent three runners to compete in the open race. Sophomore Kyle Hinkelman placed 17th with a time of 26:59; junior Alan Hemmelgarn placed 25th with a time of 27:31, and freshman Justin Gauthier placed 27th with a time of 27:41.
"I thought we got out and competed real well," Johnson said.
The women returned with an 11th-place finish in the Blue division. Twenty teams with 160 runners competed in the division, including some nationally ranked teams.
Junior Jill Scully led the team once again with her 15th-place finish and time of 17:55. Following her was senior Crystal Meeks in 40th place with a time of 18:20, junior Sarah Huddleston in 55th place with a time of 18:40, sophomore Nicole Hartford in 73rd place with a time of 18:57 and freshman Rose Lehe in 86th place with a time of 19:07.
Hartford had a breakthrough meet, earning her personal best time, and her performance gives the team another runner to help the top-five spots grow more solid.
Other runners for the Cardinals were junior Aubrey Gaffer and freshman Amanda Ponsot, who both had times of 19:30; senior Lindsay Keazer with a time of 19:41; and freshman Lindsay Molstad with a time of 20:42.
It was the fourth week in a row the team had raced, and each of those races required long travel times to get to the courses. Head coach Sue Parks said she partially blamed the traveling for the team's poor performance.
"If we were to have a bad day, this was a good day to have it," Parks said. "Everything we have left counts for something."
Both teams will have two weeks to prepare for the Pre-NCAA meet, which will take place on the Oct. 18 in Ceder Falls, Iowa.
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