Last weekend, the Saint Louis University cross country team hosted the fourth annual Cross Country-Only National Championship meet at a course in Edwardsville, Ill.
The meet is hosted annually in St. Louis and showcases some of the finest teams in the country that have cross country programs without corresponding track teams. Past competitions have drawn schools from New York, California and Florida.
“This was our first time hosting the meet in Edwardsville instead of Forest Park,” said senior Mike McCaslin. “It worked out well, it was a great meet and a great course. The fourth and fifth miles are in the woods and we have to run that same stretch twice. There are some pretty good hills back there and running the hills twice can be quite a challenge.”
In the men’s meet, IUPUI won the team title with a total time of 2:17:44.54 for the eight-kilometer course. The Billikens finished fifth out of eight teams, clocking a team total of 2:22:15.40 and an average time of 28:27.08 for each runner.
Mike Isaac turned in the best finish for the Bills with a time of 27:58.7, which landed him in 15th place overall. Mike McCaslin finished the course in 28:10.1 and was the next best finisher of the Bills, ending the race in 20th place.
“This was only Mike Isaac’s second cross country meet,” McCaslin said. “He finished first for us, which was a big step for us. He made a strong move in the third mile and just picked it up and led the team, which is very impressive for a freshman.”
Pat Henchy came in third on the Billiken roster at 28:14.8, placing him 23rd overall. Joe Porter finished in 28:23.4, which was good enough for 29th place. Dan Herman rounded out the top five of the Bills with at time of 29:28.1, landing him in 45th place.
In the women’s six-kilometer run, Loyola College of Maryland claimed the team title with 57 points and a team time of 1:56:08.7. The Bills clocked a team time of 1:58:42.6 and finished in sixth place behind Loyola, Creighton, Hofstra, IUPUI and Evansville.
Aimee Walther was the top finisher for Saint Louis in eighth place overall. Walther finished the 6K course in just a hair over 23 minutes flat with a time of 23:00.1.
“The women’s team ran well, they’ve been running in a tight pack which has been working well,” McCaslin said. “Aimee Walther always runs well and Sarah Moberg ran well also.”
In second place for the Billikens, Moberg grabbed 20th place overall, clocking a time of 23:48.1. Janelle Decker and Reilly DeSantis finished the race together at 23:55, taking 27th and 28th place, respectively.
Emily Zimmerman and Megan Irwin were steady contributors with times of 24:10.5 and 24:13.5, respectively.
