A crisp fall morning met the GMC Running Bulldogs on Saturday the 9th of September at the Middle Georgia State College Invitational in Macon, GA.  The course was held on the brand new cross country course just west of the college.  Temperatures in the high 50s met the men's team as they lined up to start. 

GMC was led by Frank Davis (Hacketstown, NJ) who finished with a time of 35:12 over the 8k course.  Fellow runner and team captain Alvaro Garcia (Bronx, NY) stated, "The course was fair, but the worst part was a short steep hill at the end of the race.  I have learned that hills are part of the cross country experience, while they are used as punishment for other sports."  The men's team finished in 5th place overall.

The women started after the conclusion of the men's race and were paced for the 2nd race in a row by Jhakira Glover (Naples, FL) who finished in 9th place with a time of 23:21 over the 5k course.  Kaitlyn Karkota (Naples, FL) finished 11th with a time of 23:31.  For both runners, this was their second sub 24:00 race of the season.  The Women Bulldogs finished the race in 4th out of 6 teams. 

Coach Sherwood in speaking about the race had this to say, "The runners showed great resolve today.  Many are from Florida, and are worried about their families due to Hurricane Irma.  It took some real concentration for them to put their emotions to the side and focus on the run.  In fact, the run allowed many of them to turn their focus off the hurricane for a little bit, and permitted them a moment of peace."  After just missing qualifying for the NJCAA National Championship for the second race in a row, sophomore Destinee Hernandez (Merrit Island, FL) said "These past two weeks I have run well, but have just missed qualifying.  I look forward to doing this in two weeks." 

Both GMC Cross Country teams are scheduled to run at Columbus State on 23 September.