BLUFFTON, Oh. - The Goshen cross country teams kicked off their season at the Bluffton Beaver Dam Invite, placing fourth on the women's side, and fifth on the men's out of eight teams present. Findlay was the dominant force on the day though, earning a complete sweep of the top five spots in both the men's and women's races and earning the minimum 15 points. 

Women - 4th of 8

Kassandra Ortega led the GC women in their 5k event with a time of 19:35.1, putting her as the 13th finisher overall. Presley Allen followed close behind in 15th with a time of 19:37.5, putting her a just a hair over two seconds behind her teammate. Marin Kauffman Smith completed the top three for the Leafs in 36th with a time of 20:59.8. Rounding out the points for the Leafs was Ella Armstrong and Julia Miller, finishing in 41st and 42nd respectively. Armstrong achieved a 21:20.8 and Miller a 21:26.8 in her first outing for the Leafs, having joined the team in her final year at GC. 

Though this was not a conference meet, the Leafs did face Saint Francis, who placed just ahead of them in third as they look forward to upcoming Crossroads Leagues matchups in the future. 

Men - 5th of 8

The lineup of runners for this opening meet included mostly underclassmen, so some of GC's top runners have yet to make their debut for the year. For those that did run, Peter Moser led the Leafs with a solid 22nd in the 6k, earning a 19:48.0 time. The next three Maple Leafs finished in quick succession with each other, with David Sefu in 37th, Samuel Klopfenstein in 40th, and Carson Correll in 45th. Sefu clocked a 20:21.4, Klopfenstein a 20:25.2, and Correll earned a 20:30.6 as he marks the first freshmen in the points for GC this year. Leighton Dodt closed out the top five for the Leaf with his time of 21:20.8, which earned him 67th on the day. 

Saint Francis placed third on the men's side as well, but with such a big shakeup up runners still to come from the Leafs, comparisons are a little more dicey on the men's side of things. 

The Maple Leafs are back in action on Saturday, Sep. 19 when they head to Grand Rapids, MI to take on Calvin University's Knight Invite. Both the men's and women's teams will be at this event — the women kick things off at 10:00 a.m., followed by the men at 10:45 a.m.