The Bruins cross-country team competed in a challenging meet Saturday, Oct. 26, as four runners competed in the University of South Carolina Beaufort Sand Shark Invitational in Bluffton, S.C.

Senior Aaron Iles and sophomore Daniel Marinelli ran in the men’s 8K, and seniors Abby Stanley and Meg Phillipo competed in the women’s 5K.

Each race featured more than 200 runners and 24 teams, and the cold morning and flat course brought the Bruins a successful performance. Of 212 runners, Iles finished 36th with a time of 26:16 while Marinelli followed at 28:00, putting him in 115th place.

Stanley, coming in at 19:47, finished 44th out of 204 participants, and Phillipo finished 77th with a time of 20:30.

“The course was great to run on,” Phillipo said. “It was the best I have run on. We were able to see what we are capable of while on this course.”

“We all ran a personal best even after a hard training week,” Iles said. “Now we’re set up in a good position to run our fastest at nationals.”

The Bruins’ next meet takes place on Nov. 2 in Toccoa Falls, Ga.