SLU’s men’s cross country team earned the first-ever regional ranking in SLU cross country history, sitting at No. 15 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest region with their victory in the National Catholic Championship at Notre Dame. In that competition, SLU managed to put six runners in the top 25. SLU’s runners beat out those from strong programs such as Notre Dame, Dayton and Marquette.

According to head coach Jon Bell, “The men put in a lot of hard training this summer, and they have continued training well this season. They have seen the results of this training by winning both meets we’ve competed in this fall. It is great to be recognized by the USTFCCCA for these efforts. Our goal is to continue this work ethic, produce results and compete for a championship at the Atlantic 10 Conference meet at the end of October.”

Having earned that honor, the men’s cross country team, along with the women’s cross country team, traveled a short distance to SIUE for the John Flamer Invitational in Edwardsville, Ill. The John Flamer Invitational took place at the at the SIUE Cross Country course.

The women’s team ran a 6K racecourse, and senior Nina Razavi posted the Billikens’ strongest time with a 23:07.60 race. The men’s team, on the other hand, ran on an 8K course. Junior Hiob Gebisso was the Billikens’ top runner, posting a time of 25:43.46.

Bell commented on the meet afterwards. “Today’s meet was a great opportunity for our younger student athletes to gain some experience,” he said. “Our freshmen women got their first chance to race 6K. For the men, we were able to run a different lineup to get them experience in our scoring five. As a staff, we are pleased with the progress this group of student athletes has made thus far. From day one of the season we have prioritized the conference championships. We knew going into this weekend we would be running a different lineup, but we made sure our program got better, and the athletes who raced today did exactly that.”

The meet was scored as a dual, as SIUE and SLU were the only two NCAA Division I teams competing in the event. SIUE managed to beat SLU by a single point in the men’s competition, and also slipped past the Billikens in the women’s competition.

The Billikens will travel to Peoria, Ill. next week to compete in the Bradley Pink Classic at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. SLU will look to continue to improve as the postseason approaches.