The UNI cross country teams were in action this past weekend, traveling to Columbia, Mo. for the Gans Creek Classic on Friday, Sept. 29. They then came back to Iowa for the Don Huston Invitational in Waverly on Saturday, Sept. 30.

At the Gans Creek Classic, both UNI teams finished towards the middle of the pack in crowded fields. The UNI women finished in 12th place out of 23 teams in the 6K race. The top women’s team overall was Nebraska. The UNI men finished in 13th place out of 20 teams in the 8K race. The top men’s team overall was Illinois.

The UNI women were led by Emma Hoins, who finished inside the top 40 at 39th place with a time of 22:06. Nine seconds later, Kate Crawford crossed the finish line for 46th place with a time of 22:15. Ella Popenhagen finished in 46th place with a time of 22:35. Eden Mueller rounded out the top four for UNI with a time of 22:41 to finish in 74th place. The top runner overall was Juliet Cherubet from Texas Tech, who finished with a time of 20:16.

The top three runners for the UNI men finished within fifteen seconds of each other. Caleb Shumaker finished in 44th place with a time of 25:09. Tyler Colvin finished in 48th place with a time of 25:16. Carson Owens finished in 54th place with a time of 25:23. Finally, to round out the Panther men’s top four, Chase Lauman finished in 86th place with a time of 25:52. The top runner overall was Jack Roberts from Illinois, who finished with a time of 23:48.

Only two runners from each team raced for UNI at the Dan Huston Invitational. From the women’s team, Lauren Klein finished in 54th place with a time of 25:13. The other runner from the Panther women’s team was Makenna Edwards, who crossed the finish line eight seconds later to finish in 61st place with a time of 25:21. The top women’s runner overall was Lexi Brown from Wartburg, who finished with a time of 22:03.

From the men’s team, Colin Lillie finished in 67th place with a time of 27:14. Caleb Kass was the other runner from the Panther men’s team, finishing in 193rd place with a time of 29:36. The top men’s runner overall was Christopher Collet from Wartburg, who finished with a time of 24:46.

The Panthers have one more race before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Friday, Oct. 27. They travel to Peoria, Ill. on Friday, Oct. 13, for the Bradley Pink Classic.