The Lady Jackets won the G-MAC championships on their home course for the second year in a row Oct. 26. They won the meet with 41 points, narrowly beating Trevecca Nazarene, the runner-up with 47 points. Ursuline took third with 72 points.
The women’s head coach Jeff Bolender said that the Lady Jackets passed so many competitors in the last 100 meters of the race that Cedarville would not have won the meet had the race been 100 meters shorter.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions – wind and temperatures in the low forties – the Lady Jackets ran very well and several set season personal records or career personal records.
Sophomore Alex Archambault won the 6k race for the second year in a row in a time of 22:33. After being shadowed by Trevecca Nazarene’s Jenny Brewer for the first two miles, she pulled away between miles two and three and ended up beating Brewer by thirty seconds. For her first-place finish, Archambault earned the G-MAC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year award and G-MAC All-Conference honors for the second year in a row.
Joining Archambault as part of the G-MAC All-Conference First Team were Lady Jackets Olivia Esbenshade (8th; 24:06), Rachel Groh (9th; 24:08) and Kristin Lamaan (10th; 24:09). Rounding out the top 7 were Haley Bredeson (13th; 24:16), Kacy Dunn and Melanie Redfield. Dunn and Redfield paired up to finish 16th and 17th, respectively, both in a time of 24:32.
Several of the Lady Jackets are recently coming off of injuries or have been struggling with low iron levels. Archambault, the Lady Jacket’s top runner this year and last, has been one of these. After a disappointing start to the season, Archambault had her iron checked a few weeks ago and discovered it was very low. It is physically impossible to run to one’s potential with low iron, but Archambault has been doing her best to replenish her iron stores.
She has also been working on her attitude: instead of letting her physical condition determine her attitude or her expectations, she said she is determined to use this trial as a way to rely on God and draw attention to him.
“Today I was just trying to focus, like last week, on running for God and giving my race a purpose … so not just running well for myself or because my friends are here watching me,” Archambault said. “(Each race is) an opportunity to glorify God and for people to see that God is bigger than iron. There’s things that we can’t control, but if we have faith, than we can overcome them through leaning on Christ.”
The Lady Jackets will have two weeks off from competition as they gear up for the regional competition in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 9.
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