JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Missouri Baptist University cross country continues to put in work in preparation for the American Midwest Conference Championships next month. On Saturday, the Spartans participated in the Illinois College Invite and came away with second- and fifth-place finishes by the women's and men's teams, respectively.
 
On the women's side, NCAA DII Truman State was the only one team to finish ahead of the Spartans and did so with the top six spots at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8. Using this week's Illinois College Invite as an additional workout and a small piece of the bigger puzzle, Missouri Baptist still finished second in the 6K race for the women.
 
The top-three point getters for the Spartans were all sophomores in Emily Bayer (11^th), Elizabeth Rogers (12^th) and Alyssa Jakcsy (15^th). The first two crossed the finish line at nearly identical times with just .3 seconds separating the two. Joining Bayer and Rogers in the Top 20 were Alyssa Jakcsy and Erin Tomschin.
 
In similar fashion, the men's team also used the Illinois College event to prepare for the meets ahead. Nearly every men's runner who competed on Saturday registered a personal best in the 8K. Joshua Person paced the Spartans on Saturday with a new personal best time of 29:42, nearly a minute faster than his previous best and the highest finish among Spartans at the event.
 
Riley Cantrell (50^th) shattered his previous PR by more than two minutes and clocking in at 32:56.40. Also joining Person and Cantrell with PRs was newcomer Nick Bewen, who continues to shave off time every opportunity that he gets.
 
The NAIA Preview/Seminole Valley Stampede, which takes place on Oct. 26, is next up on the schedule. Both Spartan squads will get to see and compete against some of the NAIA's top cross country teams.