Only a short distance from the heart of McDaniel College lies the Green Terror’s cross country course that hosted the Green Terror Challenge Saturday with runners from McDaniel, Hagerstown, Penn State, and McDaniel College alumni all competing to cross the finish line first.
Leading the men’s competition was McDaniel junior Gavin Gibson who finished both the 5K and 3K races in first place. Gibson burned through the 5K with a time of 17:50.02 and kept the pace finishing the 3K with a time of 10:07.77.
“[Finishing first] feels pretty good,” Gibson said. “I’ve been working hard.”
Following shortly behind Gibson was McDaniel sophomore Shaun Thompson who finished the 5K with a time of 17:56.47 and the 3K on the 10:25.29 mark.
The Green Terror Challenge continued to showcase McDaniel athletics from present and past students with the women’s competition.
Finishing first in both the 5K and 3K races was McDaniel alumnae Emily Peoples ’11 who completed with times of 21:11.12 and 12:38.55 in the 5K and 3K, respectively.
Continuing to impress for McDaniel was Rebecca Debinski who finished the 5K in second place with a time of 22:00.39 and third place in the 3K with a time of 13:40.00, falling short of teammate Samantha Merkel who raced through the course with a time of 13:09.16.
Following Debinski’s early finishes she immediately began supporting all runners as they crossed the finish line.
“Even though we’re all competing against each other, we ultimately want to support each other,” Debinski said. “We know what it feels like and we know how good it is to be cheered for so we want to provide that for others.”
After Gibson burned through the course, he fist-bumped his competition thanking them for coming to race.
The atmosphere of the Green Terror Challenge offered competition, but ultimately welcomed all runners to the Hill. There was a sense of sportsmanship and support that any sport fan can admire.
McDaniel cross country returns to the trail next Saturday at Kernstown Battlefield.
