McKendree Men Earn Second Place Team Finish at SIUE Cross Country Challenge

Running their first 8,000 meter race of the season, the Mckendree men's cross country team finished runner-up in team standing to SIUE at the SIUE Cross Country Challenge this past Friday. SIUE finished with a team total of 16 points, while men scored a total of 65 points.

Dylan Hartley was the first to cross the finish line for the Bearcats, finishing 9th out of 36 runners with a time of 27:04.5. For Dylan, that is a personal best for an 8,000 meter race. Freshman Will McLemore finished two spots behind Dylan, placing 11th with a time of 27:13.7. Freshman Ben Richter finished another two spots behind Will, placing 13th with a time of 28:24.5. Completing the top-5 for the men were Moses Randich and Chris Jackson. Moses placed 15th in the race with a time of 28:42.9, and Chris placed 21st with a time of 30:13.5

Other runners to have competed for the Bearcats were: freshman Christian Schmidt, sophomore Michael Butler, freshman Brandon Hokeness, and freshman Cory Berberich. For Christian, he ran 30:24.9, and Michael was a place behind him with a time of 30:37.8. For Michael, this was almost a 50 second improvement from his 8,000 meter personal best last year! Brandon finished with a time 31:48.3, and Cory completed his first 8,000 meter race with a time of 36:26.2

The men will be training hard for the next weeks before their next race at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 4th.