The Cross Country team has competed well in both the ASICS Invitational and the Berry Invitational that were held in the month of October. The team recently wrapped up their regular season schedule with strong performances at the Berry Invitational last weekend, October 15th. Looking ahead, the team will be traveling to Montgomery, Alabama next Saturday to compete in the Collegiate Conference of the South Championships. First year head coach is very optimistic about the team's progress throughout the season and is hoping for a great first championship meet for his 2022 squad.
 
In the ASICS Invitational that was held on October 1^st, there were several runners who stepped up for the team and made advances to their times. Top runner for the Scots, Josiah Mellot, unfortunately finished slower than intended due to a sickness he came down with earlier in the week.
 
However, upperclassmen Will Holland and Ethan Caswell stepped up to the plate for Covenant. Ethan Caswell finished third for the Scots and really impressed Coach Kaczinski, who added that Caswell ran "fearless" during this meet, even hitting a personal best on the season. In addition, Holland ran his fastest time all season.
 
Ethan Fox and John Purtill also had notably nice performances. The two runners have been coming on strong for the Scots on the men's side these last few weeks of the regular season.
 
For the women, the top four runners for the Scots finished with a close spread, the closest all season. 
 
In her last 1k of the meet, Lydia Dorman had a fantastic push, finishing with a time of 20:49.1. Maggie McGinley surprisingly set a personal record on the course after being out due to an injury. Though not being able to practice at full pace the week prior, McGinley came out determined and finished second for Covenant on the women's side .
 
Senior leader, Brooke McDonald, moved up really well throughout the race, running at a 6:54-mile pace. In addition, Kali Hina had her first race back after a long road to recovery from a spinal injury, running exceptionally well for getting back into the swing of things.
 
The Berry Invitational was a also solid race for the Covenant Cross Country Team. Last Saturday in Rome, Georgia the running conditions were ideal and the Scots had the opportunity to race against tough opponents to propel them into the conference championships. 
 
On the men's side, freshmen Sam Harrelson and Micheal Cooke both had great races. Both Harrelson and Cooke set nearly one-minute personal records on the season were heavy contributors to the men's team accomplishing their best 1-5 spread of the season. Rounding out Covenant's top five finishers were upperclassmen Ethan Caswell and Will Holland. Holland and Caswell finished neck and neck, Caswell with a time of 30:27.4 and Holland running 30:27.7 Josiah Mellot finished 33^rd overall (33 out of 178) and ran a pace of 5:29.1 throughout the entire 8k. 
 
On the women's side, it was Jocelyn Gartman's first race of the season. Gartman's pace pushed Lydia Moore and Lydia Dorman, near the front in order to achieve times of 25:39.1 for Dorman and 25:44.6 for Moore. Dorman, setting the tone for the Scots, ran a 6:52.8-mile pace. 
 
Brooke McDonald closed hard and rounded out Covenant's top five with a fast finish. The Scots will head to the CCS Championships October 29th.

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTS
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information.