The Bulldog men’s and women’s cross-country teams ran through the competition at the 49th annual Ray Helsing Cross Country Invite this Saturday, Sept. 7.
The Bulldogs faced off against four other schools, including Alpena Community College, Montcalm Community College, Macomb Community College and Muskegon Community College in a non-scoring format meet to kick off their season at the Katke Golf Course.
Senior Bulldog Hannah Brock finished first in the women’s 5,000-meter race and junior Cooper Sorsen took first place in the 8,000-meter race for the men, with the Bulldogs filling 18 of the top 10 spots across both races.
The women’s team took nine of the top 10 spots in their race, with Brock posting a team-best time of 18:20.58. This is the best women’s Bulldog invitational time since Ferris’ Anna Rudd posted a 17:50.31 in 2012. Six Bulldog athletes finished with a time under 20 minutes.
Brock gave high praise to her team after the conclusion of the races on Saturday.
“We had the best collective race today in the years I’ve been here,” Brock said. “The weather had a lot to do with it but it was a great day. Training camp set us up well and we all had a great showing.”
In the men’s race, Ferris also had nine top 10 finishers, with Sorsen leading the way, finishing with a 25:51.24 time.
Sorsen highlighted the team’s results and anticipations for the season to come.
“I think we had seven guys under 26:30 this time which is a lot better than last year,” Sorsen said. “Our ultimate goal is to have seven under 26:00 so we just need to stay healthy.”
For the first time since 2016, Ferris will be hosting the GLIAC championship race on the same course the Ray Helsing meet took place on Saturday.
Head coach Jared Kelsh was excited to get a “warm-up” for the course before the championship race in late October.
“It was great to have a preview of this course, especially with hopefully similar temperatures as in six weeks,” Kelsh said. “We’re off to a great start and we can accomplish great things as long as we can stay healthy, hungry, and excited to compete.”
The Bulldogs have five meets before the GLIAC championships and are looking to bring home the trophy for the first time since 1985.
The men’s and women’s teams will continue their season next week when they travel to East Lansing for the Michigan State University Spartan Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13. The first event will take place at 10 a.m.