MARION – Grace’s cross country team kicked off the 2017 season on Friday with the IWU Twilight Invitational.

The men’s team finished fourth out of nine teams in a highly competitive field, featuring seven Crossroads League teams. The women’s team placed eighth.

Carter Meyer, in his first collegiate race, earned an eighth-place finish with a time of 26:23 in the 8k race.

Ben Rankin ended 24th in a time of 27:08, followed by Sam Hall’s 27:43 and Brendan Hamilton’s 27:51.

A pair of freshmen were next in line for the Lancers. Elijah Brooks finished his race in 27:57, and Jonathan Balda was next at 28:19. Sophomore John Marhefka wrapped up the top-seven for Grace with a personal record of 28:56.

“It was a solid start for the guys. Carter was very competitive, running the best season-opening time for any Grace runner in many years,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “There’s certainly a long ways to go, but I like the work ethic and spirit of this group. After just running against ourselves for the last four weeks, it was good to see how we stacked up against others.”

The women were also led by a freshman. Aubrey Breininger paced the squad with a time of 20:35. Jesse Zvers (20:45) and McCalah Mast (20:53) were not far behind for the Lady Lancers.

Suzanne Sickafoose finished her first collegiate race in 21:09, and Karla Singer was fifth for the team in 21:27.

“I thought the two freshmen ran well for the women’s team. Overall, however, we were hoping to do a little better,” Raymond said. “But this is a great group, and I’m confident we will get back to full strength and make significant strides in the coming weeks.”

The Lancers’ second race of the year is the Crossroads League Preview in Carmel, Ind., on Sept. 15.