The Baker University cross country teams got off to a rocky start last weekend as they opened their season hosting the Maple Leaf Invitational. 

The men’s team went into the meet at a disadvantage, as two of its top five runners, freshmen Ezra Bett and Brian Hageman, were both unable to compete. The absence of these two runners cost the team several points, and in the end, the men finished seventh out of 14 teams.

“We didn’t run two of our top five guys, so the men’s team didn’t do as well with lack of those two runners out there,” head coach Zach Kindler said. “We are excited about finishing right in the middle of the pack but there is always room for improvement.”

Despite having all of its top runners on the course, the women’s team also struggled to see the results both Kindler and the athletes were hoping for.

“We finished eighth team-wise out of 12 teams,” Kindler said. “We were a little disappointed with some of the results. I expected we needed to be a little higher than what we were.”

Individually, senior Amber Keith led the women’s team with a time of 16:20 for the 4-kilometer run.

Sophomore Arnold Sirorei led the men’s team with a time of 16:41 for their 5-kilometer run. Both times earned each runner a spot in the top standings, individually.

“We had both Amber Keith and Arnold Sirorei place in the top 20 out of 104 women and out of 111 on the guy’s side, and having those runners in the top 20 was pretty exciting,” Kindler said.

Senior AJ Jimenez said although this wasn’t the best meet for each athlete, it serves as a good starting point for improvement throughout the season.

“I think it was a performance that we could all build on for the rest of the season,” Jimenez said.

Despite both teams struggling to finish in the places expected, sophomore Chris Scheideman said the teams now know what they need to do to improve.

“Everybody had a solid race, but at the same time we all have stuff to work on,” Scheideman said. “We just need to take it and learn from the mistakes we made.”

The key will be for each athlete to continue to work toward reaching peak physical shape; a task Kindler said is delayed due to slow summers for several athletes.

“We are excited with the way some of them are running, they showed that they did put in a lot of hard work over the summer,” Kindler said.  “But for the rest of them, it’s just playing catch up and getting them ready to go for the rest of the season.”

The Wildcats travel to Warrensburg, Mo. today for a meet at Central Missouri State University.