RESULTS

DECORAH, Iowa - The Bethel Royals took 4th place out of 11 teams at the All-American Invite hosted by Luther College on Saturday. The Royals tallied 103 team points led by Erika Swanson's 8th place finish. 

Head Coach Joe Stephens had high praise for his women for the second week in a row. "This is easily the best early season performance as a team in my 7 years at Bethel," said Stephens. "It's exciting to see BU jerseys up front and I'm really pleased with how our gals are executing their pack running."

For the second week in a row, Erika Swanson was the first Royal to cross the finish line. After the top 3 runners pulled away from the start, Swanson stuck with the first chase pack and was rewarded with a top-10 finish with her time of 19:36. Grace Cole continued to prove that she belongs in the front pack with another solid race at Luther. Cole completed the course in 20:08, making her the 9th collegiate finisher and placing 12th overall. Sophomore Raina Moorjani moved up 9 places after the initial mile to move all the way up to 16th place with her time of 20:18. Freshmen Evie Hage and Ruby Gernandt finished neck-and-neck, earning the final two scoring places for Bethel. Hage took 34th in 21:11 and Gernandt was 35th in 21:12.

"I'm really happy with where our women are at and how well they are working together," says Stephens. The Royals will take two weekends away from competition in preparation for the Hamline Invite on Friday, October 1st at Highland Park Golf Course.