No. 14 TU Grabs Second Place at Season-Opener
MARION, Ind. – Taylor traveled across the county to open its season at the Indiana Wesleyan Invite where the team finished second, despite the wet conditions. Daniel Gerber was TU's top runner, taking fourth place.
The Purple and Gold tallied 43 points and a team time of 2:13:30 but barely fell to Indiana Wesleyan by a margin of a mere seven points. The Trojans did separate themselves from the rest of the pack, finishing 65 points ahead and five minutes faster than the third place squad. This was the third consecutive top-two finish for the Trojans in their opening race of the season.
TU landed four top-10 and six-top-20 runners, showcasing its depth of talent. Sophomore Gerber was the standout runner for Taylor, notching his personal-best time of 26:20.6 to go along with his best finish of fourth place.
Other key contributors included Hunter Smith in sixth place with a time of 26:29.4 and Ben Byrd coming in right behind Smith in seventh place at 26:33.4.
Freshman runners made their mark in the season-opener, as Connor White and Derek Van Prooyen logged top-20 finishes. As Taylor's fifth-best runner, White scored for the Trojans with his 27:12.8 mark.
TU (8-1) will return home for its next meet on Friday, September 21st.