GRINNELL, Iowa — The Knox College cross country teams traveled to Grinnell for the Les Duke Invitational on Saturday, with a start time that was thankfully moved an hour earlier due to extreme heat in the area. Senior Lance Miller once again led the Prairie Fire men by finishing fourth, while first-year Elsie Conwell provided the fastest time for the Knox women, placing 22nd.

While Miller was completing the 8K course at the Grinnell College Golf Course in 26:26.9, sophomore Misha Ratner also broke into the top 50 with his time of 29:21.7, leaving him 47th overall. Out of the nine teams competing in the race, the Knox men split the middle, claiming fifth place.

Conwell produced a time of 25:39.7 in the women's 6K, and junior Cecilia Goodin matched Ratner's place by taking 47th in 27:24.2. The Prairie Fire also placed fifth in the women's race as a team out of six teams entered.

• The last time Knox ran in this event was two years ago, and Goodin cut nearly two minutes off her time from her rookie year, and senior Eileen Sheetz shaved off more than three minutes (Miller did not run in the race that year).
• The only men to run in both this year's race and the one two years ago were juniors Max Lawrence and Evan McClusky. The former dropped more than five minutes while the latter 28 seconds.

Knox will run again on Friday, Sept. 19 at the Bradley Invitational in Peoria. The races are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.