The BG men’s cross country team had a rough weekend. They weren’t just competing against other teams, but also against injuries that would lead them to an 11th place team finish at the Mel Brodt Invitational.

Senior Brad Wells spent about a week and a half leading up to the meet in the hospital with an undisclosed injury. Junior Aaron Smuda has a leg injury and during the race sophomore Eddie Kipchoge had a recurring ankle injury that forced him to drop out of the race, keeping him from defending his win at the race last year.

“All the guys ran good times and overall I’m happy with how they raced,” said coach Cami Wells. “They maybe ran a little tentatively, but it was their first 8K of the season. We have a lot more work to do to get everybody healthy and ready.”

But things weren’t all bad for the Falcons. They were able to keep their pack of surviving members together tightly for a 44 second split time, with freshman Chris Moody leading the way with a time of 27:06.63 and a 68th place finish.

“They’ve been working very hard in practice, especially on closing the pack up,” Wells said.

“I thought [Moody] did very well for his first 8K,” Wells said. “He ran a smart race by getting out well and finishing strong.”

Moody was followed immediately by Brad Wells in a time of 27:10.20 and a 69th place finish.

“I though Brad ran a good race,” Wells said. “He’s been out of commission for about a week and a half, but we have no doubt he’ll be back where we expect him to be soon.”

The Falcons got a big help from their upperclassmen as three of the top five were seniors who knew they would need to step up as they were competing without a few key players.

Kevin Kaighin had a good race with a personal best of 27:14.58 and a 72nd place finish . He was followed closely by senior Curtis Farnsel who finished in 80th place with a time of 27:34.66 and the top five was rounded out by freshman John Bernard in 84th with a time of 27:50.87.

“Kevin ran one of his best races ever,” Wells said. “He has been doing great in practice and I look for more big performances from him.”

The Falcons take the next weekend off as they prepare for the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky.

They hope to keep all of their top five runners under 26:30 at Louisville and the whole team under 27 minutes on the fast, flat course.

“We expect to run fast times there,” Wells said. “We’re looking forward to a chance to go out there and see how we stack up against teams we don’t normally see.”