CLINTON, Ms.--- On Friday afternoon, the Asbury men's and women's cross country squads traveled south to compete in the CCS Conference Championships at the Choctaw Cross Country Trails in Clinton, MS. The women's team took the title of conference champions, finishing first place with a score of 42. The men's claimed third place with a score of 61.

Bailey Gassmann competed for just the second time this season due to being away from campus this fall semester with the Adventure Leadership program. Despite the lack of training and competition the last couple of months, she went right out with the lead pack when the gun went off. By the midpoint of the race she was running comfortably in second place well behind the eventual champion, Skyler Seeber of Piedmont, pulling away from the remaining runners in the race.

Freshman Emma Groff continued the remarkable progress she has made in the last month with a huge PR and a sixth place individual finish. Close behind her was team captain Ava Miller and fellow senior Lily Anne Rinehart. All four of the top Eagle finishers were named to the All-Conference Team.

 Nine of the 13 who raced set new personal records for the 6 Kilometer distance.

Ella Morton, Lucy Kate Gibson, and Sarah Yost rounded out the scoring positions for the team.


Bailey Gassmann | 24:07.79 2nd place, All-Conference Team
Emma Groff | 25:18.40 6th place, All-Conference Team
Ava Miller | 25:29.84 9th place, All-Conference Team
Lily Anne Rinehart | 25:42.43 11th place, All-Conference Team
Ella Morton | 25:56.10 14th place
Sarah Yost | 26:03.66 16th place
Lucy Kate Gibson | 26:24.96 19th place


"Wow, I have rarely coached a team that recorded this many personal bests on the same day. The ladies were very excited for the opportunity to compete in our first ever CCS championship meet, but they were loose and relaxed. During devotions last night and before the race today they spoke only of running hard and honoring God. Not once did I hear them talk about winning the meet. They trusted their training, trusted each other, and left the results in the Lord's hands. If we had run this well and not won, I believe they would have been just as pleased with the results because the emphasis was on doing their best."
Randy Crist | Head Cross Country Coach
 

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The men's team ran very well, but came up short finishing in third place behind Covenant and Piedmont. Wes Preston earned First-Team All-Conference honors and Daniel Kersey was named to the All-Conference Second Team.Sophomore Josh Rittgers ran his best cross-country race ever, finishing just outside of the top 10.  Seniors Tyler Chong and Luke Holton did very well in the 4th and 5th scoring positions for the Eagles.


Wes Preston | 27:09.31 5th place, First Team All-Conference
Dan Kersey | 27:43.90 7th place, Second Team All-Conference
Josh Rittgers | 28:46.40 12th place
Tyler Chong | 28:55.38 15th place
Luke Holton | 29:35.80 24th place
JoJo Ernst | 29:54.09 28th place


"Going into the meet, we knew that Covenant and Piedmont were very good, and even though we ran well, we were not up to their level today. Despite that, being part of the CCS championship meet was incredible. This is one of the nicest courses we have ever run on.  The meet administration was excellent, and we got to compete against schools, athletes, and coaches that we had never seen competition before. It was a great experience and I'm glad we got to be a part of it."
Randy Crist | Head Cross Country Coach

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