An icy wind blew across the Meadows on Oct. 17, as cross-country runners warmed up for the Quaker Invitational. When the gun fired, signaling the start of the race, the runners swarmed up the field in a pack.

Guilford’s men’s and women’s teams competed against four other Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) teams as well as teams from non-ODAC schools like Emory University.

The Guilford men took fifth place out of eight teams, placing higher then two of the other ODAC teams, while Guilford women ranked ninth out of 12 teams, placing higher than one of the other ODAC teams.

The top times for Guilford’s eight-kilometer male runners were 29:18 by Richard Rogers (21st), 30:09 by Tyler Brown (38th), and 30:36 by Palmer Hicks (45th). Times by Ryan Wroblewski, Lukas Musslewhite and Jonathan Meade were all under 32 minutes.

The top times for Guilford’s six-kilometer women runners were 26:19 by Tessy Omina (29th), 26:51 by Linnea Saby (35th), and 27:47 by Morgan Freyer (47th). Other runners, including Charissa Duncan, Ariel Lang and Dana Small ran under 37 minutes.

“Our team did really well. We were competing against Emory, the top team in the region,” said head coach Heidi Pinkerton. “I was very proud of them.”

Emory took first place in both the men’s and women’s meets. Emory runners also took the first three individual places in the women’s meet and second place individually in the men’s race. Virginia Wesleyan took first place individually in the men’s race.

The men actually ran longer than eight kilometers. A few of the lead runners from Emory and Virginia Wesleyan accidentally cut part of the course.

“They got confused, I don’t know how because there were arrows and directions, but it was a good race,” Pinkerton said.

The runners responsible cut off a half mile, so course directors had to adjust the course while the men were running.

“My teammate lost us in the woods on the back side of the course and took a wrong turn. I believe this happened to the teammate of the Emory runner who finished second as well,” said Virginia Wesleyan runner Sean Whitson.

The Quaker Invitational was the second race Guilford has hosted this year. Guilford changed the course since the Sept. 19 X-C Carnival.

“The course was a lot better than last time, and they got rid of some of the tight corners,” Lang said.

Pinkerton was also pleased with the improved course.

“I like the new design of the course. It’s user friendly and spectator friendly,” Pinkerton said.

Everyone was all smiles at the race’s end, despite the trouble on the course.

“The race went well,” first-year Wroblewski said. “After taking three weeks off because of an injury, I didn’t have high expectations, so I took the first mile pretty easy, then let it fly… I couldn’t be happier with how I ran. I’m back and better than ever.”

Duncan, a softball player who joined the women’s cross-country team due to a need for more runners, was also pleased.

“I think the team did really well considering the conditions.” Duncan said in reference to the bitterly cold wind that had racers and spectators shivering.

Guilford will host the NCAA Regional tournament on Nov. 14. This meet will mark the third invite hosted by Guilford this fall.