The UNI men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their first meet on Friday, Aug. 31 in Iowa City. The Iowa Invitational welcomed six teams to the competition: Iowa State Cyclones, Drake Bulldogs, UNI Panthers, Iowa Central Community College Tritons, Southern Illinois Salukis and the host team Iowa Hawkeyes competed against one another. 

UNI’s women’s team finished fourth out of the six teams with 86 points as the men’s team finished fifth with 115 points. 

Among the two teams, the Panthers had three runners finish among the top 15 in their race. For the women’s team, freshman Gabby Champion ran a 14.47.1 4K, placing 11th and sophomore Alyssa Williams placing 12th with a 14.47.6 out of the 58 runners. On the men’s side, freshman Wal Khat ran an 18.47.5 6K finishing 11th out of the 73 runners.

Other competitors for the women’s team with their times and place included freshman Gabby Skopec running a 14.57.2 placing 19th, freshman Paige Holub running a 15.03, placing 21st and redshirt sophomore, Lyndsie Schinkel running a 15.08.8, placing 23rd. 

For the men, other runners with time and place included junior Alex Jackson, running a 19.11.4, placing 27th, freshman Sam McCool running a 19.18.4, placing 28th, Drake Henrichs running a 19.32.1, placing 32nd and freshman Logan Murray running a 19.43.4, placing 39th.

The Panthers had a successful first meet to start out the season in Iowa City. They will travel to Peoria, Illinois, for the Bradley Intercollegiate Cross Country meet on Sept. 14.