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Summit Township, Mich. -- The Tenth and Fifth-ranked Raider cross country squads toed the line on the rolling campus of Jackson College on Saturday afternoon, which served as the MCCAA's second official competition.  Both teams came out victorious for the second time in as many races so far this season.  The men won by 61 points and the women by 28.

The men's 8k was a doubled looped course with challenging hills landscaping the first and fourth miles. In the first mile, Freshman Joshua Kipkoech (Iten, Kenya) immediately jumped into the lead, building a 15 second gap at the mile mark on second place. Jack Kehoe (Grandville, MI) and Wilson Ishimwe (Grand Rapids, MI) were a short gap behind, running shoulder to shoulder in 4th and 5th place. Another fifteen seconds back was the pack of four other Raiders, all sitting between 20th-25th Place. The tenth ranked Raiders trailed the host Jackson Jets overall early in the race.

In the middle miles, Kipkoech only widened his lead while Kehoe maintained his position and Ishimwe began to fade just a little. Freshmen Lance Jourdan (Wyoming, MI) and Gabriel Sanchez (Waterford, MI) started to move up and were just outside the top-10 at the halfway mark, while Noah Peterson (Alto, MI) and Devin Simon (Holt, MI) held their position.

In the final mile, the Raiders pulled away in dominating fashion as the competition faded. Kipkoech won by over a minute and a half in a time of 27:39. Kehoe held on for fourth in 30:03, while Ishimwe regrouped and had a late charge to finish 8th in 30:47. Sanchez and Jourdan rounded out the scoring positions in 12th and 16th place. Peterson was one spot out of the medals in 21st while Simon crossed the line in 24th out of 66 finishers.

The Raiders ran away with the team title with 38 points to outpoint runner up Jackson (99). Oakland (103), Macomb (110) and St. Clair (127) rounded out the top-5 teams. For Kipkoech, it was his second individual title of the season.

The Women's 5k started an hour after with temps in the low-mid 80s. The fifth-ranked Raiders were looking for another strong showing after narrowly defeating St. Clair in the first MCCAA race three weeks ago.

Unlike the Raider men who started a little conservatively, the ladies started more aggressively with Audrey Meyering (Middleville, MI) and Kiah Becker (Grand Rapids, MI) holding the top two positions overall. Carolanne Merlington (Cedar Springs, MI) and Kathryn De Leeuw (Zeeland, MI) were about ten seconds back - both inside the top ten - with Allison Hoop (Jackson, MI) about five seconds back. Elizabeth Meyering (Middleville, MI) and Paige Bodine (East Grand Rapids, MI) were another ten seconds back- all in the top 20.

Just after the two mile mark, Becker made her break on a downhill with Audrey still on her heels in second. De Leeuw was also moving up into the top ten, while Merlington and Hoop were holding their ground around 15th.

In the home stretch, Becker pulled away convincingly with a winning time of 21:33 and Audrey held on for second with a time of 22:02.  For Becker it was her second first place finish of the season.

Unfortunately for De Leeuw, she took a wrong turn on the shortened finish loop and ran an extra 600 meters in what would have been a top-5 finish. Instead she came in 29th.

Merlington, a fast-closing Liz and Allison finished in blanket fashion in 14th, 17th and 18th, respectively to round out the scorers. Bodine rounded out the varsity squad in 30th place out of 61 finishers.

Despite the little set back from one of their runners, the Lady Raiders finished with 52 points to take home the team's second consecutive Invitational title. Jackson (80), St. Clair (82), Muskegon (133) and Kellogg (136) rounded out the top-5 teams.

The Raiders don't have much time to recover before heading up to Grayling next Friday, Oct. 2 for the Kirtland Community College Invite.  The meet is scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm for the men and the women to follow. 

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