Looking to build on its success at the Illinois State Invitational on Sept. 14 and following two focused weeks of practice, Missouri cross-country traveled to Chicago to compete in the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday.

The Tigers placed eighth on the men’s side and fifth on the women’s side against a pool of 26 teams on the men’s side and 33 on the women’s.

For the third consecutive meet, the men were paced by England natives Thomas George and Kieran Wood, who finished fifth and sixth, with times of 24:18.04 and 24:18.11 in the 8K. However, the men had no one else finish in the top 50, which doomed the team to its lowest finish of the season, albeit still a competitive one.

The women had a more balanced attack. Although no Tiger woman finished in the top 10, five placed in the top 50, leading the team to a fifth place overall finish. Freshmen continued to play a big role for the women’s squad, as Tori Findley, Mikayla Reed and Reilly Revord came in 13th, 27th and 30th places. Meanwhile, redshirt juniors Sophia Racette and Jordan Kleve checked in with 24th and 46th place finishes.

The teams will look for another strong finish, and a more balanced performance on the men’s side, when they hit the road for the National Open on Friday, Oct. 12 in University Park, Pennsylvania.

_Edited by Bennett Durando | bdurando@themaneater.com_