WESTFIELD, Mass. –The Gordon College Cross Country teams put up impressive results in their fourth race of the season at the James Earley Invitational on Saturday. Running their first race of the year with a healthy team, both the men's and women's teams fared well against some of the best teams on the eastern seaboard. Neal Hulstein (Ellington, Conn.) was the top male finisher for the Scots, on his way to a third CCC Rookie of the Week award. Jessica Fittro (Schenectady, N.Y.) finished first for the Scots on the women's side in her first race of the year.
 
Hulstein continued his strong rookie season by finishing in 31^st place overall against some of the best runners in the region. He finished the 8k race with a time of 27:14.06 and was the second CCC runner to cross the finish line—behind Roger Williams' Jack Ferguson.
 
Wes Nelson (Charlton, Mass.) finished two minutes behind the talented freshman as the second scorer for the Scots. Jed Meyers (Medford, N.J.), Andrew Manning (Amman, Jordan) and John Sexton (Hamilton, Mass.) finished the scoring for Gordon. The team finished 20^th overall out of 35 teams in the race, finishing directly ahead of CCC rivals Western New England and Endicott.
 
The women turned in their best effort to date in 2012 with a 17^th place finish out of 39 teams registered. Fittro had been battling injuries during the Scots first few races of the season, but the junior came out strong in her season debut. She finished 68^th overall with a time of 20:47.36.
 
Leanne Beedle (Bethany, Conn.), who had paced the Scots for a majority of this season, finished second for Gordon. Beedle and Hannah Fisher (North Attleboro, Mass.). Mary Beth Gray (Gaffney, S.C.) and Sarah Warne (Andover, Mass.) rounded out the scoring for the women.
 
Both teams will gear up to compete in the CCC Championships in three weeks, which will be held at University of New England on Saturday, November 2 at noon.