Emily Bayer picked up her third win in as many meets at the Border XC Championships on Friday afternoon. As a team, the Spartans finished in second behind fellow AMC opponent, Columbia College. 
 
Bayer's 19:51.25 paced all 34 competitors while beating Columbia's top finisher by roughly 11 seconds. The junior from Imperial, Missouri came into the season without a career first-place finish but has changed that quickly by rattling off three straight to start the 2020 campaign.
 
Elizabeth Rogers and Ali Perry finished closely in the 11th and 13th, respectively. Rogers finished with a 22:23.63 with Perry 29 seconds off her pace at 22:52.21.
 
Vanessa Waidmann has been impressive this season and posted a strong 16th place finish. Her 22:20.0 was 16 seconds off of her collegiate-best set back in September at the Larry Young Invite. Meagan Ryan and Mikayla Williams round out the field for the Spartans finishing in 17th and 27th place.
 
As a team, the Spartans were more than a minute off Columbia's average time and significantly behind in scoring. They did, however, best the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy by almost seven minutes of total time and nearly a minute in average time.
 
The Spartans are back at it on October 24 at the UHSP Fall Classic in St. Louis, Missouri.