CARMEL – Grace’s cross country team enjoyed a taste of Crossroads League competition on Friday with the Crossroads League Preview Meet.

The race, held in Carmel, Ind., had eight of the 10 league teams competing head-to-head.

Grace’s men’s team finished fourth in the race, and the Lady Lancers ended in seventh place.

The course was filled with several rolling hills with warm temperatures in the 80s, resulting in slower-than-normal times for the field.

Carter Meyer was runner-up in the men’s race to help the Lancers to fourth place. He finished in 27:24, six seconds faster than the third-place competitor.

Sam Hall also finished in the top-20, ending in 18th place at 28:25. Elijah Brooks (29:09) and Ben Rankin (29:18), and Jonathan Balda (29:42) and Blake Kirkham (29:49) paired well together.

“Carter ran a smart race, starting out a bit conservative and then moving forward as the race progressed,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “Sam Hall ran very well to be our second finisher and placed in the top 20. I also want to mention Blake Kirkham. He was our sixth finisher and raced very well.”

On the women’s side, Liz Fox was exceptionally strong to lead the Lady Lancers. She ran her race in 21:04 for 26th place, which was 40 seconds faster than last week.

“I told Liz that she was probably one of the only runners in the entire race who ran faster than our previous race at Indiana Wesleyan,” Raymond said. “She likes running in warm weather, and it showed today.”

The next five runners for Grace finished in a tight pack, including Jessica Zvers (21:50), Emma Mitchell (21:54), McCalah Mast (22:04), Karla Singer (22:15) and Suzanne Sickafoose (22:23).

“The heat forced our top finisher last week [Aubrey Breininger] to pull out of the race, so our team score was affected,” Raymond said. “However, I thought the ladies accomplished what we wanted today as we continue to improve.”

The Lancers return to race action on Sept. 30 for the Greater Louisville Classic.