ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — On a warm and windy afternoon, the Knox College men's and women's cross country teams ran in the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational hosted by Augustana College. Junior Lance Miller placed fourth in the men's 8K to lead all Prairie Fire runners, but the women's team ended the day in sixth out of 10 teams with 201 points while the men wrapped up their race in eighth out of 11 with 230.
The day began at noon with the women's 6K at Saukie Golf Course, and sophomore Cecilia Goodin crossed the tape in 21st for the Knox women with a time of 25:55.4. The next Prairie Fire harrier to complete the course was senior Franny Hilliard in 27:38.8, leaving her in 45th. First-year Mary Stockdale needed about another 80 seconds to finish up in 28:58.7, good for 64th place.
Miller continued his impressive season with another top-five finish, posting a time of 26:34.3, about 23 seconds behind the pace-setter, Finbar Martin of the host Blue Jays (26:11.1). The next two men to run the 8K were first-year Misha Ratner in 28:58.9 (63rd out of 170) and sophomore Evan McClusky in 29:51.0 (93rd).
- Augustana won the men's race with three of the top-five finishers, totaling 49 points.
- On the women's side, Simpson College beat out the host school by 15 points, 65-50, but Blue Jay Emma Odle beat the field 101 runners by nearly 50 seconds (22:40.2).
- Other Knox runners to contribute to the team score: junior Eileen Sheet (29:18.3, 66th) and sophomore Alenis Rios (29:43.4, 71st), and junior Elliott Varnum (31:45.6, 130th) and sophomore Max Lawrence (33:17.6, 145th) for the men.
Knox will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Dan Huston Invite hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
