LOCK HAVEN, Pennsylvania -- The Lake Erie men's and women's cross country teams ran at the Lock Haven Invite on Saturday, boasting some impressive times and numerous personal records. The Storm runners competed in the Crimson division on both the men's and women's side, facing many familiar foes from G-MAC schools such as Findlay, Walsh, Tiffin, Northwood, and Malone. Team rankings were not calculated for this competition. 

Finishing first for the Lake Erie women's team was none other than school-record holder Raena Willett, placing 19th overall with a time of 22:07.4. Next to the line in their 6k race was Julia Laudato (56th, 23:06.6), Talia Mauro (186th, 25:49.7), Lanie Bower (192nd, 25:56.6), Kaleigh Williams (203rd, 26:31.1), and Ayleen Villacres (205th, 26:48.0). 

For the men, freshman star Kristian Green placed 42nd in the 8k with a time of 25:53.5. Harry Ross-Hughes would complete his race next for the Storm, placing 101st with a time of 26:53.1, exactly tying his personal record. After them, Scott Temple (108th, 26:57.9), Bryce Michaelis (137th, 27:31.6). Andrew Polcik (159th, 27:54.3), David Zaumeyer (195th, 29:05.6), Mason Brewer (199th, 29:26.9), Evan Laukonis (209th, 30:09.6) and Joshua Forsythe (255th, 36:27.2) all valiantly represented the Storm. 

Ayleen Villacres continues to smash her 6k PR; last week she broke her record by almost 20 seconds, and in this one, she broke that record by 96 seconds! Junior Bryce Michaelis set his new best in the 8k by a solid 10 seconds, while Julia Ladato was only 4/10ths of a second shy of setting her new mark as well. 

While personal records are hard to come by, growth week-by-week is much more attainable. An incredibly impressive note is that every single athlete who competed both this week and last week in their respective events had better times this go-around. Some, such as Lanie Bower, Mason Brewer, and Joshua Forsythe, improved dramatically from week-to-week. Bower and Forsythe both shaved two minutes from their times, and freshman Mason Brewer cut over three! 

The team will look to continue building upon their gradual success when they compete next in the Fighting Scots Invite on Friday, October 11th.