The Bedford boys cross country team competed in the Dave Bork Invitational in Monroe on Saturday, a race that has long been seen as the unofficial Monroe Country championship. The invitational does not keep team scores, and the two races for the boys were split by grade level, with the freshmen and sophomores competing in the first race and the juniors and seniors competing in the second race. Awards are given to the top ten finishers in each grade. 

The Bedford freshmen were impressive, with Dane Hieronimus finishing fourth overall and second among the freshmen, finishing with a PR of 17:53. Gage Bihn was the third freshman overall, crossing the line in a PR of 18:23. Nolan Brescol finished 9th among the freshmen in 19:40. 

The sophomore Kicking Mules also finished strong, placing five runners in the top ten of that class. Nick Balla was the first Mule to cross the line and the 4th sophomore in the race, coming through in 18:01. Jordan Bunce was 6th among the sophomores (18:18), Braxon Lake was 7th (18:20), Jake Yeager finished 9th (18:23), and Aidan Ortiz finished 10th among the sophomores in 18:35. 

Among the juniors in the junior/senior race, Gabe Bock led Bedford with a third place finish in 18:03. Braiden Welch was the only other junior to place, but ran a huge PR of 19:12 to place 9th among juniors.

Senior Josh Gagne finished just off the podium, finishing 11th among the seniors in a time of 19:03. 

The next competition for Bedford is the SEC Championship on October 30.