GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Missouri Baptist Men's and Women's Cross Country teams competed in the 18th Annual NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, hosted by Aquinas College. The meet featured a competitive field of 35 NAIA member institutions, including 13 nationally ranked or receiving-votes teams on the men's side and 14 on the women's side. Despite the challenging competition, the Spartans turned in several strong individual performances, highlighted by multiple personal records.
The Spartan men kicked off the competition in the Maroon Division 8K, competing against a field of 191 runners.
Wade Patten led the charge for MBU, clocking a personal-best 25:14.5 to finish 47th overall. His brother, Grant Patten, followed closely behind with a personal record of his own, finishing 55th with a time of 25:20.2. Brandon Etheridge rounded out the Spartans' top-100 finishers, crossing the line in 25:50.8.
Sophomore Dylan Coleman also delivered a notable performance, recording a personal-best 28:30.3, shaving 10 seconds off his previous 8K record.
As a team, the Spartan men finished 19th out of 22 competing teams.
The MBU women followed in the Maroon Division 5K, competing in a field of 185 runners.
Julia Whorton continued her strong season, leading the Spartans with a 32nd-place finish. She crossed the line in a personal-best 18:28.4, improving her previous mark by nearly three seconds. Kailey Lawrence was the next Spartan to finish, placing 87th overall with a time of 19:12.5.
Sophomore Addison Swanson also turned in an impressive performance, clocking a personal-best 22:37.7, improving her previous mark by nearly a full minute.
The Spartan women finished 18th out of 20 teams, wrapping up the afternoon's competition.
With the regular season officially in the books, Missouri Baptist now shifts its focus toward postseason competition. "Looking forward to some fine-tuning for conference over the next two weeks," said coach Matti Noyes.
With two weeks remaining before the conference championships, the Spartans will look to build on their recent performances and make their final preparations for postseason racing.
