As one of just two seniors on the, Fernando Benitez understood in advance he would be expected to be one of the leaders for Hamline this fall. In the season's first meet -- last Saturday at Northfield -- he did just that, leading all HU runners and finishing in an impressive fifth place in the 8K race that featured 220 runners.
The White Bear Lake, Minn. native ran the 8K course in 26:09.1, a mere 45 seconds from the top finisher.Â
This was the first of three meets the Pipers will compete in prior to the conference championship meet November 2, also in Northfield. HU hits the course again on October 4 at the Blugold Invite in Colfax, Wis.